The Burned Mystery
by Scarlette Shizuru
Summary: The Seigaku and Hyotei Regulars were training something drives them to that house. What do they want? Their boring summer will now become a mystery and a run for their lives. Rated T for swearing, gore and some scenes. CHP 19 up! Completed!
1. Mysterious Murder

(I don't own Prince of Tennis!)

Chapter 1 – Mysterious Murder

Echizen had barely even woken up and he actually managed to drag himself to the shower. He felt half his brain was fuzzy to the point he nearly fell asleep in the shower itself. Karupin who was sitting near the tub then began swishing its tail in his face. "Oi, Karupin," –Echizen groaned groggily, "I'm up already, you don't need to do that."

The cat mewed in reply while he managed to change and sleepily trudge downstairs. The only time he woke up was when a porn magazine sailed into the air and smacked him straight in the face. Echizen gave it a disgruntled sigh. "Baka oji, what are you doing reading this stuff in the morning!?"

Nanjiroh yelled back. "I'm not reading that stuff! I just happened to throw the nearest thing to me and that was it!"

Knowing what his father said wasn't true and he knew that his father was an addict to that kind of magazine, Echizen grabbed the magazine off his face and pitched it right back at his father. "BAKA!"

Managing to narrowly dodge it, Nanjiroh growled. "You brat, show more respect to your old man now will you!?"

Echizen's reply was simple and flat. "YADDA!"

It was early in the morning and these two were yelling already. His mom entered the room with some breakfast. "Hey you two, that's enough. Ryoma-kun, better eat your breakfast. Nanjiroh, didn't I tell you to get rid of this thing?" –referring to the porn magazine.

Nanjiroh muttered, "Yeah, yeah, I'll toss it out later."

Echizen managed to pass a snarky comment. "Which means never."

The two managed to get into a fight again and there were more flying magazines and the mother could only sigh; those two fight over the simplest of things.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"How do you manage to even do all this," growled Momoshiro while he saw Echizen cramming a little bit of his homework which they were supposed to read while using Momoshiro's back as a table while they were biking their way to Seigaku, "I mean – even I don't do homework the way you do! What subject are you finishing up anyway?"

"English," Echizen nonchalantly said.

"Well, you did go to America," Momoshiro sighed while he continued to bike. The two had been doing this routine for awhile now since Momoshiro's house was on the way to Echizen's and to after his house, Seigaku was right down the road. Problem is, Echizen was rather poor in directions and often got lost or he ended up late. The two had morning practice that day and knowing their captain, they would be made to run more than just twenty laps if they were late.

"Oi, Echizen, did you hear the news?" Momoshiro stated.

Echizen didn't seem to care as always. "Eh? What news?"

Momoshiro slapped his forehead. "It was in on TV yesterday, Echizen! There was some house that was burned down the other day. The funny thing is –it's still intact and I was wondering if you wanted to check it out! It was also said that there was a murder that was held there but the police can't find out whom. I mean – we got nothing better to do for the summer right? Might as well check the house. They say it's haunted now, wanna give it a shot?"

Echizen was reluctant at first. "Momo-senpai," –he didn't know how to explain his situation, "I don't think…"

"I'll tell the others, I'd love to see the scared look on Mamushi's face," Momoshiro snickered when he thought about the idea.

Echizen didn't say anything while he pulled out a book from his bag. It was a collection of horror stories that he had bought from the book sale. Many people who have read this book have been said to cower in fear and never venture a house alone again. However, Echizen was anything but afraid; he was just wondering: why did Momoshiro want to check out this house?

When they got to school, the two instantly changed into their Regulars uniform and began their practice. Momoshiro continued. "They say that the place makes you hallucinate by making you think you're on fire or something. They even said that a really well-off family lived there, they had two kids one that went to Hyotei and one that went to," –Momoshiro then noticed the Freshmen Trio running towards them, "huh? What's with you guys? Why you guys running like crazy insane morons?"

Horio broke in the sad news while choking on his tears. "One of the students, Sagaraki Mitsuda, died the other day… they only identified her body now. Her body was singed into a crisp! She was part of the tennis club for the girls!"

Everyone was shocked; they could only assume now that one of the victims was from Seigaku and Momoshiro did mention that one of them went to Hyotei. Echizen's face showed no reaction while he continued to drink a can of ponta until someone glomped him from behind. "Ochibi!"

Echizen nearly collapsed from the weight of Kikumaru and he nearly spit out his favorite ponta. "Kikumaru-senpai."

The red head mournfully mentioned. "Mou~, did you hear? I can't believe it and she was the tensai of the girls' team here. Sad thing, she was only first year and she got singed into a potato chip. Momo, you did say you wanted to check her house right?"

Momoshiro nodded vigorously. "You betcha! I bet you – we can solve the mystery behind all the deaths! I mean –to be singed to death without anyone knowing? There's gotta be something wrong there, right senpai?"

Kikumaru brightened up; he kind of had this thing for mysteries. "Okay! Lemme tell Fuji and…!"

"Saa~, tell Fuji what?"

They saw the blue eyed tensai with his usual smile and Kikumaru gave him a cheeky grin. "Hoi, hoi, wanna go check out the Mitsuda Residence? We're going to try and solve a crime! See what caused the fire and who caused it! I bet it's gonna be really cool! Please come, Fuji, nyah!"

The brunette didn't need to be told twice besides; he seemed to enjoy these kinds of things. "Sure, I don't think it's going to be a bad idea."

"What are you all doing? Get back to practice," a stoic voice entered the conversation and saw an emotionless Tezuka behind them.

"Saa~ Tezuka, you always had this thing for mysteries, would you like to come with us?" Fuji's blue eyes revealed themselves, "I mean – unless you have anything better to do which I know you're probably just going to read a McBain novel back at home, why not do real live mysteries? After all, your grandfather did excel in this kind of field. So, are you up for it?"

Tezuka raised his eyebrow before replying. "I don't see the reason why I have to come."

"Besides," their fuku buchou, Oishi added, "it might be dangerous. There might be some back draft there. Eiji, I really don't think it's a good idea."

"There's a ninety percent chance that the house is haunted," Inui popped from behind them, "and a fifty percent chance that we won't be able to solve the murder unless we have supernatural encounters."

Kaidoh who had been behind Inui did not like the sound of that. "G-ghosts?"

Momoshiro was getting kicks out of seeing Kaidoh's face totally contort with fear. "Don't worry. Ghosts don't exist, Mamushi. You should stop being a baby. Or maybe you shouldn't bring him," –Momoshiro had a mischievous glint in his eye, "because he might wet his pants while we're there."

Kaidoh grabbed Momoshiro by the collar which meant he completely took Momoshiro's bait. "What did you say, baka peach!?"

"You're a 'fraidy cat," –smirked Momoshiro. He knew that Kaidoh would never back down from a challenge that he proposed.

"If there's anyone who's afraid, it's you, baka peach," yelled Kaidoh before deciding to throttle Momoshiro, "I'm going anyway!"

Oishi sighed. "Maybe I'll go, just to make sure you guys will be alright."

Kawamura nodded. "Yeah, same here. Just to make sure."

They all looked at Tezuka who hadn't uttered a single word during the entire conversation. Feeling all stares at him, Tezuka also felt it was his duty to look after his teammates despite their stupidity and their pigheadedness in doing very childish things. "Fine," was all he said?

Kikumaru jumped with a big glee. "Yay! So – what time do we meet there? Oh I know, what about right after practice? I mean – we can't worry our parents when we leave right after dinner!"

Oishi sighed. "Eiji, how can you be so excited? It's still a crime scene and we shouldn't taint it."

Seeing how hell-bent his teammates were in going to that residence, Tezuka decided to end the conversation there and then. "If you're done, then it's thirty laps for all of you."

"NANI!?"

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

After practice, Echizen went into the bathroom to puke out part of Inui's concoction. "That was disgusting… stupid Inui-senpai."

When Echizen looked up, he saw a girl in the mirror. Turning around, there was nobody but when he looked at the mirror, she was there and this time, her hand was on his shoulder. This girl was in a Seigaku uniform; however, this time, she was completely bloodied. Echizen put his hand on his shoulder but nothing was there. The wind slowly got chilly and her long pink hair reminded Echizen of someone he knew. "Sagaraki Mitsuda?"

The ghost gave him a yellowish toothy grin. Her hair covered the left side of her eye and Echizen only realized then that this girl was no ordinary girl because in her neck was a blade that skewered her throat through. After that, her right side was completely burned leaving only the left side with hair and the skin on the lower right part was completely peeled off; revealing hints of her bones that were cracked badly. _"Kaerete…" (Come back)_

Echizen didn't know whether to be shocked or to be just nonchalant because he felt the grip of the girl get tighter and when he looked to his left, this time, he wasn't dreaming because she was right there; staring at him with her dull blue eyes. Echizen managed to take a few steps back but after that, he was too frozen to move and the girl stretched out to him. _"Kaerete…Echizen…tsugete…" (Come back…Echizen…come with me…)_

Echizen more or less was terrified of what he was seeing. Later, he felt a huge force push him back and she was now on top of him. Blood dripped from the faucet and started flooding the bathroom while her grip continued to tighten itself over Echizen's body. _"Onegai tsugete ni watashi, Echizen…" _(_Please come with me, Echizen…)_ – (A/N: Please correct my Japanese if the grammar's wrong.)

Echizen didn't know how to react but the only word he managed to get out of his mouth was, "YADDA!"

Somehow, he felt his body tighten once more. His hands were covered in blood and so was his hair, his blood ran cold when he found her leaning on his body on the floor. His body was too frozen and he felt helpless; his amber eyes widened with horror when he saw himself burning. His mouth ran dry; he couldn't scream. His legs wouldn't move; he was completely pinned. He couldn't believe what he was seeing until he heard someone yell. "Ochibi!"

The ghost snapped her head up right away and vanished while the Regulars saw him on the floor in a great deal of shock. His breathing was rapid and the whole bathroom was not flooded with blood but with water. Echizen's body was completely soaked with water while Oishi helped him up. "Daijoubu, Echizen? You look like you saw a ghost…"

However, he didn't react and the regulars didn't say anything either because the mirror was filled with blood writing. It said:

"_Tsugete ni watashi, Seigaku Regulars… Tsugete ni watashi, Seigaku Regulars… Onegai…Tasukete…"_

_(Come with me, Seigaku Regulars… Come with me, Seigaku Regulars…Please… Help…)_

Everyone couldn't believe what they were seeing because the writings were very specific. This message was addressed to them and they didn't even know who. Echizen had no wounds and it definitely wasn't him because his writing was not that ugly neither was his grammar. It was slightly messed up and Kikumaru yelled. "Nyah~, who wrote that!? That's creepy!"

Tezuka wasn't looking at the mirror because he saw the girl smiling at him there calling out to him too, her arm was stretching out to him while her yellow toothy grin appeared. _"Tezuka-senpai…"_

Fuji noticed that Tezuka's eyes widened a little. "Tezuka, what's…?"

When Fuji checked, there was nothing there. The tensai was baffled; Tezuka saw something and now, he wasn't sure what. Kaidoh didn't like what was going on. "Senpai-tachi, this isn't funny…!"

Inui wrote in his notebook. "There's a ninety nine percent chance that this is related to the murder the other day."

Kawamura gulped. "Guys, check it out. Look at the lower part of the mirror."

On the lower part of the mirror, Momoshiro read. "Number nine Marigold Drive, Corner of Sakura Street and Ume Avenue. Hey, isn't that near your house, Mamushi?"

The snake shuddered while trying to conceal the fact that he was scared witless. "Yeah, of course, baka peach!"

"Not only that," Oishi pulled out something from his tennis bag and it was the newspaper for that day, "it's the same place where the house burned. But, what's with this and who wrote it?"

Fuji's smile broadened. "Seeing how we're all now involved, would you like to check the house? I think that's where we should start since we don't have any other clues asides from the address and," –Fuji's blue eyes suddenly popped open, "what's that on Echizen's arm?"

Everyone turned to Echizen and only to see a nacarat-purplish mark on both his arms and his shoulders. It was in the form of hands and it was definitely not his since his hands were so much smaller than this one's. Oishi took a look at it. "It's definitely from something or rather, someone. Question is: who?" He then turned to the freshman, "Echizen, did you see anything or did you know who the person was?"

Echizen numbly nodded. "It was her…"

Despite the vague answer, Momoshiro had half the idea on who it was. "It must've been her, that Sagaraki Mitsuda…"

Kaidoh snapped. "But there's no such thing as ghosts!"

Fuji continued to look around to find any trails and when he got to one end of the comfort room, he beckoned Tezuka to come. "Tezuka. You might want to see this."

The bespectacled captain of Seigaku went to where Fuji was and there she was, sitting on the toilet. She was smiling with her pale white face with her dull blue eyes staring at them. At first, she looked soaked and Fuji asked kindly. "Hello, who are you? How did you get in here?"

She looked up and saw the tensai and the captain staring at her. She first then began to laugh innocently while it slowly got louder and more evil sounding. Her laugh was very high pitched and then, her voice suddenly became deep and demonic. "Hello."

Without a second to think or react, both boys were shoved against the wall with the girl smiling and resuming into that same form Echizen first saw her as. Her teeth revealed fangs and her bright pink hair was not soaked from water but from blood. The scarier part is, her grip continued to tighten and both boys were slowly losing air. Her hand was grayish blue and her nails were long and they were slowly digging itself into the throats of the two Regulars. The regulars saw what was going on but they didn't see the girl. "Fuji! Tezuka!"

Somehow, only Tezuka, Echizen and Fuji could see her and no matter how much they tried to pry of her hands; it disappeared like smoke and appeared on their throats again. Fuji pointed at the faucet and Echizen didn't know what it meant but it helped anyway because he managed to find a bucket nearby which was used in cleaning the bathrooms and threw the bucket of water at them and she shrieked and disappeared. The only thing left was a trail of blood that led to the toilet.

Oishi ran to both of his friends. "Are you two alright? What happened? What was holding you guys against the wall?"

Fuji coughed. "A girl… definitely Sagaraki Mitsuda… there's no mistake. We saw her uniform, not only that, it was as if her body was severed by something and burned at the same time."

Kawamura shivered. "I-I don't like this. Maybe we should get out."

"Or rather," –Tezuka stood up and spoke calmly despite what he went through, "see what she's hiding in her house."

The regulars stared at him as if he was insane. "What!?"

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

It was also summer break for those in Hyotei however; Atobe wasn't going to let them off easy. He had been pounding training into them ever since last month. Gakuto slumped on the floor. "I can't believe this… I actually feel exhausted only after two hours…"

Hiyoshi breathed in heavily. "Looks like Gegokujou to me… you managed to increase your stamina despite your reckless stupidity."

"Che," –Gakuto hauled himself up again, "you wanna say that again, Hiyoshi!?"

Atobe could only stare at the morons who have been arguing for thirty minutes now. Shishido and Ohtori have improved tremendously while Oshitari was there, showing off again just to piss off Atobe. Kabaji stood next to him like his loyal manservant, Jirou was sleeping **AGAIN** and Haginosuke was the one timing everything else. Atobe looked around and smirked. "Well, things seem to be doing well despite the murder that day…"

Atobe shuddered when he had received that report. Sagaraki Ryouji, first year at Hyotei, quite an honor student also very popular among girls. He was quite a sweet kid and he was actually Second Violin and this boy's death had affected Choutarou the most. Considering the fact that they were best friends as well, Ohtori took the death hard since he was one of the few (aside from Atobe and some of the Music Club Members) who found out first among all of the Hyotei students. "Speaking of which," –looking around, Atobe couldn't find half of the silver pair, "where is Shishido?"

"Ugh, disgusting," groaned Shishido from the bathroom.

Everyone saw Shishido getting out and he looked green as if he had seen Inui's newest concoction. However, not only was he green, he was sweating and shivering in fear. Ohtori ran up to his partner. "Shishido-senpai, what happened? You look sick, maybe you should stop first…"

Ohtori's voice trailed away after seeing what was coming from the bathroom. There was a trail of blood coming from the bathroom yet no trace of injuries from Shishido. "What's going on…?"

"Arn~, I didn't tell you to stare at the bathroom like stupid idiots," Atobe walked over to them while flipping his hair until he saw the trail of blood, "Shishido, did you cut yourself with the mirror? Or are you that dense?"

Shishido didn't speak and he was shivering like he was terrified of something. Atobe sighed; this was the most childish thing he had ever seen. Snapping his fingers, he ordered. "Kabaji, come with me."

"Usu."

Atobe and Kabaji walked into the bathroom and saw nothing but a trail of blood. Atobe looked around for awhile until he found himself startled by what he saw on the wall. It was burned and marble is not supposed to burn. The smoke didn't look like one explosion either; it took the shape of a screaming face and blood seemed to trickle from its eyes hence, making the bloody trail on the floor. "Disgusting," –turning around, Atobe changed direction until he felt something grab his ankle and drag him down, "what in the world..?"

Kabaji actually looked afraid and Atobe's eyes widened with horror because under the sink was Sagaraki Ryouji with no legs and no eyes. Blood trailed from the boy's upper torso behind him and he was actually strong enough to drag down Hyotei's King. _"Atobe… Atobe… Atobe…"_

The boy basically kept calling him while his eye sockets cried a river of blood and his voice was sharp pitched and not letting him go. For the very first time, Atobe felt more terrified than normal. It felt worse than facing Yukimura's jitters and he felt like his skin was burning. Feeling sharp nails sinking into his skin and carving something on his ankle, Atobe finally managed to get himself out before anything worse happened and Kabaji moved without Atobe's orders, he grabbed the captain and made a mad dash for outside while a loud howl echoed in their ears.

When they finally got out, Atobe had to redo his composure because what he saw was hell. All the Regulars saw Atobe get out with a very terrified Kabaji. Gakuto yelled. "Oi Kabaji, what happened in there?"

The boy was too stunned to speak while Oshitari looked at Atobe. "You alright?"

Shishido managed to make a sound. "You saw him, didn't you?"

"Saw who?" asked Ohtori.

Atobe was stunned because when he lifted his pants, he saw something carved onto his ankle that said: Number nine Marigold Drive, Corner of Sakura Street and Ume Avenue. "What is this?"

Shishido gulped. "Atobe… there's something I think I know you're not going to want to look at."

The worse was yet to come because crawling towards them was Ryouji and the worst part was: nobody could see him except Atobe, Shishido and Kabaji. He wasn't crawling snail slow; he was crawling really fast and he didn't even have legs. Atobe only managed to mutter one word. "Everyone, run!"

Oshitari gave him a droll stare. "Why?"

Shishido grabbed Ohtori and Haginosuke. "Everyone just run!"

Atobe scrambled himself to his feet and called out. "Though ore-sama is going to regret this, everyone move out!"

All the Hyotei Regulars ran for their lives even though some of them couldn't see Ryouji like Atobe, Shishido and Kabaji. When they got out the gate, they slammed the gate behind them and Atobe thought they were safe until Kabaji's face changed expression and Shishido heard something slam onto the gate and saw Ryouji clambering on the gate and climbing it fast like a monkey. Shishido also saw him crawling from another side and from the left which only left him to go forward. Running at full speed, Ryouji seemed to be at every corner except one direction. Oshitari tried to calm the three down. "What the hell are we running from!?"

Gakuto yelled. "Atobe, my legs are dead already and now you want us to run even faster from something that we can't see! What's wrong with you?"

Atobe wanted to kick Gakuto. "Can't you see the damn thing that's after us?"

The other six regulars shook their heads and Ohtori managed to justify Shishido's action. "Um… but I see this trail of blood getting longer and longer and I don't think we wanna know what that is!"

Shishido muttered. "Shit! Everyone, follow me!"

Atobe looked around and found a bloodless pathway. "This way!"

They kept running and the sky slowly turned reddish black like blood. Atobe looked back and the thing that was crawling seemed to get faster no matter what they did. Shishido continued to drag Choutarou. "Damn it, this thing won't…!"

After that, they ended up crashing into someone and guess who they found: the Seigaku Regulars. Hyotei could only stare in awe; Shishido yelled. "What the hell are you doing here? Weren't you being pursued or something!?"

Momoshiro took a look behind them. "I don't see anything."

They looked back and found no trail of blood and they looked in front of them and the sky returned to its normal colour. They only then discovered that they were now on that road. They were at the place that Mitsuda had told them and what Atobe had carved onto his ankle: Number Nine Marigold Drive, Corner of Sakura street and Ume Avenue, Tokyo City.

-That's chapter 1! This is my first PoT fic! Please review!

-I know the address sounds weird but I don't know how they do it Japan but…oh well…


	2. Coincidence?

(I don't own Prince of Tennis!)

Chapter 2 – Coincidence?

"You guys weren't chased here," yelled Shishido, "why the hell did we get some rabid dead kid to chase us all the way here?"

Oishi shrugged. "I don't know but, Fuji and Tezuka nearly died and so did Echizen. Apparently, there's something there that we can't see that only they can. Wait – you can see it too?"

Shishido had to resist the urge to slap him. "Ya think!?"

Kikumaru whined. "There was this really creepy writing on the mirror, nyah! It was saying something like: Come with me, Seigaku Regulars. Please… help. It sounded so evil! Then, then…Fuji and Tezuka were being choked by something and we don't even know what! Ochibi managed to see it but we couldn't! Fuji and Tezuka seemed to also have seen it, right, nyah?"

Fuji nodded. "That thing… or rather, she wanted us to come here. The first one she passed her message to was Echizen but he was horrified. So, she then began choking Tezuka and I and this time, she managed to get her message across which is why we're here."

Echizen looked at Atobe. "What about you, monkey king? You look like you saw something too."

"Che," Atobe replied with his usual arrogance, "ore-sama did see something but was not scared of it."

Oshitari smirked. "Really now? What about that time in the bathroom? You looked like you were about to faint, Atobe."

The king hissed. "Watch your words, Oshitari unless you really want to die."

Tezuka then looked at the house that now sat in front of them. "We better check what's inside since I don't think these bizarre things are going to stop unless we see what's in the house."

They all stared at the house for a moment and hoped that they would make it alive. After all, this place was just recently declared a crime scene and one wrong mistake they make could have them dead or worse, pursued by something that people won't believe that's there. Oishi then started changing into mother hen mode. "What happens if we can't solve this in one night and what if we can't get out? Will we be alright?"

Atobe sighed. "Good grief, I wonder how he manages to keep all his black hair when he's worrying well enough to grow gray hair."

Fuji looked at the door and held the rusty door handle. "So, who wants to go in first?"

Echizen and Atobe marched towards the door and held the handle smirking at each other; seeing who would chicken out first. However, when they proceeded to pull the door; it wouldn't budge. The door was stiff like a rock and Atobe was flustered. "I'm holding the button already and yet it won't open. Kabaji, open the door."

With his usual reply, Kabaji tried yanking the door but to no avail, the door wouldn't open even if he pulled it or pushed it. Gakuto yelled. "How the hell do they expect us to get in? Go through the door like all ghosts? Well, sorry! We're still alive and breathing."

Fuji tried gently pushing it but no avail. It was as if the door was locked and all regulars were clueless on how to get in. All of a sudden, Ohtori stood straight up and his face paled; even his eyes dulled as if he was possessed. Shishido looked at his doubles partner. "Choutarou, you alright?"

Ohtori moved away from the door and towards a potted plant. Hiyoshi gave him a queer look. "I think he's stiff out of fear."

However, in Ohtori's hand was now a rusty and bloody silver key. Atobe wondered. "How did he know that there's a key? Ohtori," –he began snapping his fingers but Ohtori didn't blink neither did he react but he inserted the key inside the keyhole and unlocked the door. With the wood creaking, all the regulars saw the place. It was dusty and it was a mess; judging from the place, the place looked like it was owned by a foreigner and was deserted for many years. The moment the door stopped swinging open, Ohtori then snapped out of it. "Huh? What happened? The door opened?"

They were all staring at Ohtori who seemed to be very clueless about what had just happened. He began looking at everyone. "What happened? How come I don't remember anything except Echizen, Atobe-san, Fuji-san and Kabaji in trying to open the door?"

Shishido shrugged. "You were in some wacko trance. You didn't even respond to Atobe's snapping."

Kikumaru didn't like the place but his excitement for adventure overrode that fear. "Whoa, creepy. Let's go in."

They all looked at each other warily eyeing the place; seeing who would enter first. Tezuka was the one who took a step in first followed by Oshitari and then Fuji and Atobe and then the rest just followed after. However, the moment they all got in, the door shut itself; bolting itself ten times and followed by a large wood plank blocking their entrance and exit. Oshitari shrugged. "Well – there goes our exit."

Gakuto whined. "Yuushi, how can you be so calm!?"

"To tell you the truth, I'm actually pretty freaked out," Oshitari replied, "but there's no use in freaking out if we were sent here to solve a mystery. Besides, nothing weird has started yet. Let's start searching."

Inui began scribbling. "There's a ninety percent chance that a ghost will now appear."

Gakuto and Kaidoh didn't like that. "W-W-What?"

They heard a child's laughing down the hallway and footsteps. They all halted their own movement and listened. They then saw a little girl moving towards them. "Let's play aniki!"

Their first instinct would be to yell but then, they saw a little boy going towards her smiling. "Sure, imouto. Ikuze, Mitsuda-chan!"

The ghosts ran past them and Fuji's blue eyes popped open. Later, they heard something playing and it didn't sound like just a piano but an entire orchestra. Gakuto gulped. "What song's that? I never heard it before."

Atobe looked around. "I don't see any trace of musical instruments."

Echizen had said nothing but he was quite freaked out. He had a feeling he knew the place and his entire body began shivering. Oishi noticed right away. "Echizen, Daijoubu? You look really sick. Guys, this wasn't a good idea; Echizen's getting the chills and we're not even supposed to be here."

Shishido's eyes widened. "Um… minna…"

The Hyotei Regulars didn't like the sound of Shishido's voice. "What is it?"

He was pointing at the painting then he stammered. "What kind of guy… puts a demon in a picture?"

It was the family portrait but next to the man in the middle, there was a demon grinning at him like he was ready to devour the man. Their spines tingled at the sight of the photo and Fuji looked at the plates that stayed on the cabinet. Some of them were stainless steel and when he saw his reflection, it was the girl but not him. Shaking his head, the tensai checked again and it was still the girl and he looked behind him and she was looming behind a very unaware Tezuka. Grabbing a candle stick, Fuji yelled. "Tezuka, duck!"

Tezuka didn't really get why but when he saw the ghost, he instantly moved away and the candle stick went through the girl. She first stared at it and then saw Fuji. Her beautiful blue eyes then became red with her fangs coming out as she rushed towards Fuji. Echizen, who was closest to Fuji, yanked him out of the way when she went through the wall. Fuji looked at a very sickly Echizen. "Are you okay?"

Kikumaru looked at him. "He doesn't look good, nyah…"

Momoshiro looked around; getting a little jittery. "Look, I don't think we'll be getting out by tonight. We might as well find a place to stay because honestly, the living room is starting to creep me out."

Kawamura looked at Jirou who was already sleeping against his back and nodded. "Guys, I don't think Jirou's going to get freaked any minute now. Because he's been sleeping the entire time. So, maybe we should check upstairs?"

Atobe looked around. "Tell you what; we split into pairs so we can cover more ground. So, Kabaji, you're with me."

"Usu."

Oishi looked around. "Tezuka, maybe you and Fuji should pair up. I'll take Echizen with me. Momoshiro, Taka-san and Eiji and lastly, Kaidoh and Inui. Any questions? I guess we meet back here right?"

Oshitari pointed out. "Maybe we should do it this way so it would be easier to track. I know we hate each others guts but we might as well work together seeing that we're in the same forsaken place that's trying to kill us. Atobe and Tezuka, Fuji and I, Inui and Taki, Shishido and Oishi, Ohtori and Momoshiro, Gakuto and Kikumaru, Kaidoh and Kabaji, Echizen and Hiyoshi, Kawamura and Jirou since, well, Akutagawa was already sleeping on Kawamura. We all meet back here. Also, we better check the rooms so; we can find a place where we can at least sleep **IN PEACE**."

Though there were a few objections, they knew they had to set their differences aside. The fact that they were both trapped in this house made things even more complicated but rivalries can come later. Their lives were another matter and before they could split up, Hiyoshi tapped the kansai prodigy's shoulder. "Hey, my partner's missing."

They looked around frantically; Hiyoshi was right, Echizen was gone!

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

No one knew where Echizen had mysteriously vanished off to. Amber eyed tennis prodigy began lugging around and his body seemed to sway every time he took a step and each step, took great effort. His mind felt so clouded; his legs felt like they were moving by themselves and if Echizen was pursued, there was no way he could run away fast enough. Looking at the book he bought, it was a collection of horror stories and for some strange reason: the book was blank now. Rubbing his eyes, Echizen realized that it was no dream. "I need a bathroom."

Looking at the door, he opened it and when he entered, the showers were covered but above on the roof, there was a body all cased up in chains; dripping its guts out into the tub. Blood filled the tub immediately and Echizen felt like he was going to puke especially when he saw the intestines fall out. Then next to him, was a man with a butcher's knife next to him. Echizen lowered his cap in disgust until he saw what the man was eating: it was the innards of the body. Echizen made his way to the door only to be stopped by the girl once more whose mouth began moving. _"Tasukete…Echizen…"_

The worse part was that she knew what his name was. He felt his hair stand on all ends and he slowly made his way to the door. When he got out, it wasn't the same hallway anymore. This one had more paintings and he heard a sinister laugh. "YOU WILL NEVER LEAVE THIS PLACE ALIVE!"

Because Echizen was spiritually sensitive, he voice echoed in his ears and without thinking, his body began running. Bloodcurdling screams echoed in the hallway and he found his jersey splattered with blood. A voice hissed into his ear. _"Run…run as fast as you can, little Echizen. I'll tear you alive and make you regret coming here."_

Echizen had no idea how the voice knew his name but when he looked behind him, the demon that Shishido had pointed out in the painting began coming towards him with a hatchet axe. It began chanting. _"Echizen…Echizen…Echizen…"_

Seeing a window, Echizen tried to open it but he couldn't so he did one last resort: breaking it. Jumping through, he didn't end up outside but inside the other room where Oishi and Shishido were checking. The fuku buchou noticed Echizen immediately. "Echizen-kun, are you alright?"

Echizen nonchalantly replied despite the fact he was scared. "Mada mada dane, senpai."

Shishido grumbled. "Che, that kid trying to sound tough and all. This place is freakier than Atobe's Halloween fest."

Oishi looked around. "Shishido, did you find anything?"

"Nope," Shishido put his hands on the back of his head, "the place is clear. What the," –pointing at Echizen's arms, "what in the name of kami-sama is that!? Did you burst through a window or something? Question number two: how the hell did you get through the…mirror?"

When he looked at the place Echizen came from, the mirror was supposedly broken but now it's not even there. Oishi looked under the bed and he felt something grab him. "Whoa!"

Shishido heard him right away and grabbed Oishi. He saw a huge bloodied hand dragging Oishi under and Shishido muttered. "No shit, this place…!" Tugging harder, Shishido got Echizen to help him yank Oishi from under the bed. All three were breathing heavily and Shishido muttered. "The hell was that!? I didn't even know there was such thing!"

Echizen was breathing heavily. "Oishi-senpai, we have to get out of here. This is too much already…" Grasping his head, Echizen slumped onto the floor gripping his entire body right after.

Oishi went to help. "Echizen!"

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Meanwhile, Atobe and Tezuka were downstairs in the dinning hall. The place was pretty big and lavish for staying somewhere so urban. Atobe grumbled. "What in the world is wrong with this place? I mean, we never tried anything to it! Why did it ask us to come here?"

"I'm as clueless as you," Tezuka calmly replied until he found something in the pantry. "Atobe."

"What? Found something," Atobe's sentence stopped midway when he saw what was inside the pantry: it was preserved organs and a couple of harpoons. On the sides of the closet door, there were pictures of women and some who had it crossed out. "This place was a house of a mad man."

"More or less, that's one step of progress you've made so far, A-to-be," called a childish voice.

Behind them was a little boy who was smiling gleefully, Tezuka decided to get some answers before they were all driven insane. "Why were we brought here? Who are you?"

The boy's expression then became rueful. "He's coming."

The two captains exchanged glances. "Who is?"

A maniacal laugh sounded into the air and Atobe looked around. "Ore-sama didn't like that."

"Hey," when Tezuka turned back, the boy was gone and Atobe grabbed Tezuka. "Look at the damn window!"

On the window, blood dripped all over it and a message slowly began to appear. Devilish music from the orchestra soon accompanied it and a laugh hollered into the air. The message said:

_NONE OF YOU WILL ESCAPE THIS HOUSE ALIVE! I WILL NOT LET YOU!_

Atobe and Tezuka saw the drawers open automatically and soon, it became stormy outside. The room darkened and the moment the lightning flashed, a man stood there with a meat tenderizer and a butcher's knife. His grin was maniacal while he spoke with an evil voice. _"Looking for me…?"_

Atobe was beyond frozen and he wanted to get farther and lucky for him, he was far and in front of him was Tezuka. The figure made its way towards them and Tezuka, who seemed to maintain his composure despite the situation grabbed Atobe's loose hand and dragged him out before the knife flew and impaled their heads. They both got out and when they got there, they heard a woman screaming. On the wall where they were, was a woman whose shoulder had an impaled knife in it. Tezuka then heard kids screaming. _"Daddy, where are you?! Stop! Stop hurting mommy!"_

Tezuka cringed at what he was seeing and the man began to laugh more as he got a pair of scissors and began cutting the body open. Atobe felt like he was going to throw up when he saw the man eating the innards. Blood sprayed itself on both captains and Atobe shuddered at the burgundy colour and what was worse, the woman was screaming in horror while the man continued to rape her. Atobe was mortified when he even saw him cut off the fingers slowly while laughing maniacally. Atobe managed to catch a glimpse of Tezuka's reaction which was the longest time he held emotion of fear and disgust all mixed in. Tezuka and Atobe lost the energy to even inch towards the door and when the lightning flashed, a woman in black smiled with blood coating her teeth. Trying to maintain a clear head, Tezuka grabbed Atobe and darted for outside again.

Atobe watched the gore fest while she soon began eating the man who had been abusing the girl. His icy blue eyes couldn't peel off from the scene and then, suddenly, that place burst into flames. The captains were disgusted with what they saw; whatever took place here seemed similar to the Amityville Murder except on a worse scale. "Ore-sama can't believe he just saw that," breathed out Atobe while he tried to recompose himself.

"You're not the only one," Tezuka for once agreed with Atobe with what he saw.

The two continued to walk until they found themselves in a ballroom. The orchestra music began to play and soon, ghosts of people surrounded the dance floor. They were dancing simply and then, Tezuka saw a man walk in. He wasn't bad looking and in fact, it reminded him of someone. It definitely wasn't just one of those bachelors; this man had a regal feel to him and there were many women in the hallway. He saw a young man who looked exactly like Atobe and he had a feeling that the Hyotei captain knew him. "Atobe, know him?"

Atobe looked at the side and saw the man. Atobe's eyes widened. "Uncle?"

The man didn't react but soon the aristocrat, the one that Tezuka saw began coming towards them. As if it were second instinct, Tezuka grabbed Atobe and hid behind the post. Atobe had half the mind to kick Tezuka while he hissed. "Tezuka, what's that for?"

Tezuka pointed without replying and there, they saw the aristocrat talking to him. A loud laughter came from their conversation and then, they started looking at the women. Atobe then remembered that his uncle was invited to a bachelor party and never called back their house. Could this also be the murder of his uncle? The aristocrat seemed to flirt with all the women in the room and some were even girls at the age of sixteen. Tezuka quickly shook his head to dismiss that thought from his mind. _"I see you're enjoying the party," _a calm and collected voice said.

"_Signor Yukihisa,_"a feminine voice replied with her thick accent, _"I am indeed having a wonderful time. Where is your family? Will they not join us? They shouldn't miss out this beautiful banquet you set for us."_

_"They will, they're just a bit occupied," _replied the aristocrat whiletaking a drink out of his wine glass.

Atobe muttered. "Arn~? I bet he murdered them before he started this damn party. That's too thick to be red wine. That's blood he's drinking and that glass is made from something else. I don't think it's normal glass"

Tezuka shifted his glasses. It wasn't plastic, it was too shiny for that and neither was it glass since it was so murky. However, when he removed his glasses to clean them and when put them on again, instead of a wine glass he saw a skull. The man was drinking blood out of a skull. Tezuka would've hurled and fainted after seeing that but he maintained his composure. Atobe saw it too and he wanted to drop. "This is… a ballroom from hell…"

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Meanwhile, Fuji and Oshitari were roaming the hallways. Oshitari looked around. "Wow, despite going through a fire, this place seems to hold up. I'm surprised that this place didn't collapse."

Fuji nodded. "Or maybe it's because it never incinerated the foundation of the house which is why it never collapsed."

Later, they heard furious pounding on the doors and scratching. They even heard moans of pleasure and voices from one room. Fuji shuddered. "I don't think I want to look into the room. Whichever one it is."

Oshitari walked ahead of Fuji and followed the trail of the noise. Fuji's smile became broader. "I'm going to laugh at you the moment you get traumatized. Gambatte, Oshitari."

The kansai prodigy rolled his eyes and tried to open the door but it was locked. Fuji shrugged. "Saa~, it's locked. Do you plan on looking through the keyhole?"

As Oshitari proceeded to check the keyhole, it was blood red. He couldn't see anything. "Damn, it's so red. The only thing I can see is…"

The tensai however were cut off when they heard a loud scream from the same room. Since they couldn't see anything, they leaned against the door to listen. _"You bitch! You had a husband and here you are sleeping with me? You ungrateful whore!"_

_"Yukihisa-sama, please listen to me," _a feminine voice quivered while they heard pounding and smashing. They also heard scratches on the wall and they heard some glass cracking and a loud moan of horror. Fuji and Oshitari looked at each other and nodded. Stepping a few feet away from the door, the two tensai proceeded to smash the door down and there they found a woman. Her body was spread wide open and that included her legs and they saw a wood plank in a place where it's not supposed to be. Her arms were tied to the bed posts and a white rose was place over her body. A man stood away from the bed with a harpoon in his hand. _"Women are toys, they should be exploited…!"_

Fuji and Oshitari couldn't believe what they were seeing especially when he shoved the harpoon into her belly. Oshitari lost his composure there and then and yelled. "Bastard!"

Fuji prayed that the ghost didn't hear Oshitari's loud yell but unfortunately, it did. Turning around while still holding the harpoon, the man's eyes glistened with anger and his grin was maniacal. _"What did you say?"_

Oshitari was beginning to regret what he just yelled and he closed his eyes; waiting for the impact. However, it never came because the ghost was gone and Fuji was standing there tapping his shoulder. "Oshitari, it's gone."

The blue haired kansai prodigy opened his eyes and the room was fixed again. He thought he was going to be run through but there was no impact. Then, Fuji told him. "Listen."

There was a phone ringing and it definitely wasn't their cellphone. Oshitari pulled out his phone. "No luck, it wouldn't be our cellphones. Something's interfering with the signal and I'm not getting anything. It even says here SIM card rejected. Boy, there's something wrong with this house. How about you, Fuji? Any luck?"

Fuji looked at his cellphone. "I'm beginning to wish that I was like Yamabuki's Sengoku," there was no signal in his either.

The two left the room and found two people talking to each other. One was in a tuxedo and he was talking to a man who was in assassin clothes. _"So, when will the plan commence?"_

_"Yukihisa sure has a lot of wives," _smirked the other one who was in assassin clothes, _"what about the Sagaraki side of the family?"_

_"A bunch of useless dogs," _muttered the man, _"kill them all."_

_/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\_

Meanwhile, Momoshiro, Ohtori, Kikumaru and Gakuto somehow ended up together with Hiyoshi. The five were walking in the library and they were wondering what they could find out about the family. Gakuto and Kikumaru then began arguing who was the better acrobat while searching for information. Hiyoshi sighed while he took out some books while he began reading it through. Momoshiro looked around. "What happened in this house? This place looked so elegant and there's something here that feels wrong all over? What's this weird chilly feeling I'm getting?"

"Oi baka peach, I'm surprised that you're still alright," hissed a voice.

Momoshiro wasn't sure whether or not to be happy. "Mamushi, you're still in one piece!"

"There was a twenty percent chance we would live but apparently, our chances have now decreased to five percent especially when we find the mystery and story behind this house," muttered Inui while he began scribbling on notebook, "ii data."

Kabaji looked at the other two Hyotei players. "Usu."

Gakuto smirked. "Never underestimate Kabaji. Hey, Taki," –showing him the painting, "did you find anything about the family?"

Haginosuke nodded. "Yeah, and you won't believe what I'm about to tell you."

-That's chapter 2! Please R&R!


	3. Disgusting Mystery

(I don't own Prince of Tennis!)

(I'm not very sure about pairings but I'll think about it.)

Chapter 3 – Disgusting Mystery

"It so happens that," Haginosuke gulped, "Sagaraki Mitsuda and her brother were murdered by as everyone I think knows, Yukihisa. However, there's something more disgusting than that."

Momoshiro and the others gave a blank stare at Haginosuke who took in a deep breath and nudged Inui. "Please continue for me."

Inui opened his notebook. "It turns out that Mitsuda, her brother and her mother were all siblings."

The eight drew back in horror. Gakuto was on the verge of puking. "That's disgusting! So, who's the real mother!?"

Kaidoh picked up a book. "Maybe this little book lying next to Kikumaru-senpai might help."

Despite his hands trembling, Kikumaru managed to grasp the book. His fingers rattled while he turned the page and Ohtori gulped. "Kikumaru-san, is there something wrong? You look like," –at that moment, Kikumaru threw the book and slammed the table with his fist, "it's disgusting… Ohtori…Momo-chan… don't look at it…"

The two were curious on what disgusted Kikumaru so badly and when they picked up the book, there was a photo in pure digital colour. Gakuto, Haginosuke, Kabaji, Hiyoshi and Inui took a look at it. Kaidoh turned away almost instantly. "Shit!"

In the picture, it was a woman being raped and a man holding a bloody scalpel. They looked at the reflection in the mirror and saw only one kid there. It was a girl and she looked like she was screaming at someone. Blood was spilled all over the bed and some of the entrails were also scattered on the bed such as the liver, kidneys. Momoshiro held back his urge to throw up on the book. "Kami-sama, have mercy on us because that was the most disgusting thing I've ever seen! Who the hell takes a picture when there's a rape going on!?"

"A sadist," Hiyoshi said simply though he himself was totally disgusted.

Gakuto stared at it for a moment and gulped. "Guys, looks like we're in for it now…"

Kabaji then began tapping Kaidoh. "What?"

The moment the snake turned around, there was someone walking to him with a pick axe. He would've screamed like a girl but because Momoshiro was there, he grabbed Momoshiro's head instead to make him look. "You baka peach, man with scary pick axe at six 'o clock!"

The man grinned maniacally while holding a pick axe. His body was coated in blood and his head was titled in a very awkward angle. His face was burned and they could see his bony jaw. He took steps towards them menacingly while his pick axe gleamed and Gakuto began to whine. "People would usually say, why's a guy carrying a pick axe instead of screaming but, this guy's got no eyes!"

Kikumaru wailed. "RUN NYAH!"

Kikumaru didn't have to say it again because they ran to all corners of the room and headed towards the exit however, he managed to block all passageways. Momoshiro saw five of the man coming at them. "Great, just what we needed! More people with pick axes!"

Inui scribbled on his notebook. "There is an eighty percent chance that the bookcase is our escape way, ii data."

Gakuto frantically started pulling out books. "Alright! Which one is it!? Come on, I've seen this work in the movies!"

Seeing that Gakuto's method was not working, Kikumaru saw a torch high up and he turned to Kabaji. "I'm sorry, Kabaji. I'm going to use you as a stepping stone…!"

Using Kabaji's shoulders since the big boy didn't bother protesting, Kikumaru managed to haul himself high into the air and pull the torch which made the bookcase move. He came landing down and Momoshiro dragged him. "Come on, Eiji-senpai!"

They slipped into the book case and found themselves in the dining room. Inui looked around. "It seems were safe for now."

Ohtori was breathing heavily. "This is so wrong. I thought ghosts didn't exist and here we are, stuck in a place full of them each armed with some murder weapon or something."

Gakuto slumped to the floor. "I know. We better head back to the living room, let's just hope Yuushi and the others are there."

Getting up, they heard loud yells coming from the other part of the dining room. Momoshiro's head perked up. "That…that was Taka-san! Come on, Kikumaru-senpai!"

The red head and Momoshiro rushed in and saw a huge butcher with a chain saw. Kawamura and Jirou were tied to a table and the laugh began ringing through the dining room. Momoshiro didn't waste any time in lunging forward and yanking Kawamura before he got hacked into two while Gakuto managed to make his way in to save Jirou while Hiyoshi got a candle holder to block the chain saw. The man glowered at the second year and Hiyoshi fell on to the floor and stared at the chain saw in horror. Gakuto saw his doubles partner on the floor and yelled. "Kabaji, fetch!"

With his usual "usu", Kabaji made a mad sprint for it and grabbed Hiyoshi while the man ran after them. Haginosuke slammed the door open and called out. "Everyone, faster! We don't have much time!"

Before they managed to get out, Kikumaru's jacket got snagged on to one of the statues in the room and for some reason, this thing seemed alive because this thing, the more Kikumaru struggled, the tighter its grip got and the eyes seemed to glow red and the statue then showed fangs. Momoshiro yelled. "Kikumaru-senpai!"

"Nyaaaaaaaah!" Kikumaru couldn't do anything but scream because his jacket was snagged and Gakuto yelled. "Ditch the damn jacket!"

Kikumaru managed to wriggle himself free before he got sawed in half. The Hyotei and Seigaku Regulars made a mad dash for it and finally ended up in the living room. This time, it was very quiet and not a single soul could speak. They were all shocked from what they saw and they slumped on to the couch. Ohtori began looking around. "Where are Shishido-senpai and the others? Weren't they told to meet us here…?"

"Run faster, Oishi, dammit!" yelled a very familiar voice.

Ohtori shot up. "Shishido-senpai!?"

On Shishido's back was Echizen, who was breathing heavily as if he was sick with something and Shishido came from another hall but they couldn't see him. Later, they heard the piano making a ruckus and somehow, it managed to spit out Oishi, Shishido and Echizen. However, the piano too seemed to be alive because it tried to clip Shishido's legs but luckily, with all the training he did, he managed to slip through. Jirou yelled happily. "Shishido!"

Adjusting his cap, Shishido grumbled. "I thought that this place was just a joke but I guess I was wrong. Brat over here just somehow burst through a mirror and then he began hyperventilating and he collapsed, egghead over here nearly got eaten under the bed and by sheer luck, we just out ran a man with a huge broad sword! How do you like them apples? What about you guys?"

Gakuto wailed. "There were so many pick axes! They wanted to slice our innards open! Also, we discovered that the family's a case of whacks! We gotta get out of here! Where are the others anyway!?"

Then, from a cabinet, rolled out Atobe and Tezuka who were covered in a bright burgundy colour. Atobe was breathing really heavily while Tezuka and he leaned against the cabinet doors. "Remind me again why we're here," growled Atobe.

"Atobe," the Hyotei regulars cheered in delight.

Seigaku chirped. "Buchou!"

Tezuka wasn't sure whether or not he was dreaming but, he really wished he was because what they were facing was a nightmare. This place alone was so vicious. Tezuka looked up and counted the team members and knew that there was one more missing. "Where's Fuji?"

They all looked around until they heard someone yell. "Fuji, jump!"

From the mirror, Fuji and Oshitari rolled out and shielded themselves from the raining glass shards. Oshitari looked up. "That… was wrong…"

Atobe yelled. "Oshitari, how the hell did you just go through a damn mirror!?"

Oshitari shrugged. "I don't know. Fuji and I were running and then, we ended up going through this door and… yeah, we're here."

Atobe slapped his forehead. "There's something here that one ghost wants but the other doesn't want. This is so damn confusing! How the hell are we supposed to solve the mystery if it won't let us!? There are these weird ghosts that try to kill us and we can't even get things done!"

The whole room fell silent after that and they now had no ideas how to deal with the supernatural things because some want things done and some don't. Atobe looked at his watch. "The sun already set and the only thing we managed to accomplish is screaming our brains off and maybe a couple of I don't know – blood stains!?"

Everyone exchanged glances while Tezuka said. "We should all stay here in the living room, seeing that it's the only place with nothing coming at us with wild axes or any sharp object. Did anyone tell their parents where they were going?"

The Regulars exchanged glances with each other and pulled out their cellphones. No luck, they had no signal and they had no way out. There was no way in hell that they were going to get out of that house unless they solved the mystery. They looked around; hoping that there was no more ghosts, Kikumaru let out a sigh. "I hope we'll survive, nyah…"

Oishi looked at Echizen whose condition didn't seem to get any better. "Not only that, I hope we manage to solve the mystery because I don't think Echizen will heal up at this rate…"

Despite the uneasiness in the room, the Regulars fell asleep one by one. However, the only four that remained awake were Oshitari, Fuji, Atobe and Tezuka. There was something wrong; why wasn't this room being attacked? Not that they wanted it to be attacked but because it made the place seem so odd, it was as if something was protecting them. Oshitari wasn't feeling any better despite the sereneness of the room. "Atobe, don't you think it's weird? This is the only room we haven't seen without a haunting."

Atobe smirked. "The ghosts are probably scared of Ore-sama."

"I doubt it," rolling his eyes, Oshitari added, "besides, the only thing you'd be able to scare is little kids on Halloween."

"They're probably scared because I'm better looking," Atobe smirked while fixing his sleeping position.

"Spare me the ego, Atobe," –Oshitari groaned inwardly.

Fuji looked at Tezuka. "Saa~, Tezuka, how long do you think it's gonna take us to finish this mystery?"

The bespectacled captain didn't reply for some time but he was certain he felt something tapping him. "Fuji…?"

He looked back but then, Fuji was already asleep and so were the other two. Now there was definitely something wrong, Tezuka looked around and saw nothing and then he felt tapping again. Turning towards the other side, he saw Echizen whose eyes were very dull amber. "Echizen?"

The teen didn't say anything but he managed to drag Tezuka out of bed and drag him to the hallway. The bespectacled captain didn't know why Echizen was dragging him until he led him to a room. On it, the number on the door was 696 but Tezuka perfectly knew what was going to happen. "Why did you take me here? Echizen?"

The greenette suddenly returned to normal and began looking around. "Where am I? Buchou, why are we in the hallway?"

Tezuka was now baffled; Echizen couldn't remember anything about bringing him to the hallway. They looked around and Echizen began walking towards the room. "Buchou, can't you hear it?"

"_Open the door, Echizen…"_

Tezuka shook his head. "Nothing."

"_Open the door, Tezuka…"_

Now, that one he heard and he wasn't sure how to describe it. Something was compelling him to answer the door and he felt his hand move to the doorknob. Feeling the uneasiness in his buchou, Echizen looked at Tezuka. "Buchou, are you really going to open it?"

"If it would help solve the mystery," Tezuka let out a breath before completely turning the brass doorknob.

His heart echoed in his ears and Tezuka hesitated to open it in fear of something just suddenly attacking them. He couldn't let his guard down; not even in this house. The moment he opened it, there was nothing there; the room was clean and no weird spectral things. They looked around and they heard a something typing. Looking behind them, it was a typewriter. A very old one; it was very rusty and it wouldn't have been able to type in its condition. They heard the clicking again and Echizen looked at Tezuka who didn't seem fazed by the fact that there was a typewriter typing without a wielder. Walking towards it calmly, Tezuka pulled out the paper and took a look at it.

_Welcome to room 666, Echizen, Tezuka, you will now learn my story._

_The story of this burned mansion. The story of Signor Yukihisa and his multiple families._

_The day we call the "Vermillion Banquet"._

The typewriter knew their names and Tezuka wondered while he recalled his time in the ballroom. "Vermillion Banquet? Was that the one I saw…?"

"_Thank you for coming," _a female voice said.

Turning around, they saw Mitsuda in her Seigaku uniform however, instead of her skull and body looking burned, mutilated and bashed, she seemed to look like she was normal. She had an angelic smile while walking towards them; she bowed apologetically. _"I'm sorry for what my sister had done to you in Seigaku, Echizen-san, Tezuka-senpai. My sister tends to be more violent and she did have a liking to Echizen-san after all. I hope she hasn't scared you entirely but, there's something I need you to do. The reason why we called you here is because the man who took us down is still alive. I know – you're probably wondering why I specifically called you two. Unlike the others," _–referring to Fuji and the others, _"they're not as spiritually sensitive as you guys are. I know you have a lot of questions but the truth is, even I can't answer them because they have been chasing me entirely."_

Tezuka remained silent while Echizen asked. "You're Mitsuda-san right?"

The girl nodded. _"Yes, my name is Mitsuda. My family as you know, is very well off but, despite being very well off, we have secrets to hide. My mother you see, the reason why she looks like me and you never really saw her is because – my mother is my sister, literally."_

Tezuka didn't know how to explain that; that defied logic completely. How can that be? He looked at the ghost whose tears were now trickling down her eyes. _"My sister, I'm sure you met her already. Please save us as soon as you can! My sister deserves the most justice because of what **HE** had down to us!"_

Tezuka eyed her warily as if trying to confirm something. "Do you mean…?"

Before he could get his question answered, they heard the door slam open. There, a man was clothed in a tuxedo yet, blood spilled all over the neckline and he was missing three of his fingers on his left hand. His face revealed only the right side of his face remained intact and thought it wasn't completely intact either. His right eye was bulging out while his hand dragged a big axe that is usually used in hacking wood. His walking was lopsided while the axe grazed itself in the wood. Mitsuda's expression changed into pure horror. _"Echizen-san, Tezuka-senpai, this way," _–she quickly pointed out, _"please hurry!"_

The two saw her pointing at the window and Echizen didn't want to try that again. "No. I am not jumping..!"

But, they had no other choice and Tezuka decided to gamble their chances and jump. The glass shattered and they found themselves back in the living room. The others were awakened by the loud crashing of the glass. Oishi was the first one who jumped. "Tezuka, Echizen! What happened to you two!? Did something happen? Why did we hear glass? Are you alright!?"

Tezuka gave a look to Oishi that made him stop. "We're fine. What time is it?"

Oishi looked at his watch. "Funny, my watch was working yesterday."

Everyone checked their watches and their watches were all dead. Shishido tapped his. "Yeesh, mine isn't moving either. The hell is wrong with this thing? You know what – I think its better we go as a group because if it's by pairs, we're definitely dead meat. So, we'll go by the same pair except this time, by fours or by sixes."

The group didn't seem to reject to Shishido's idea and Momoshiro added. "We should look for the murder weapons and stuff. Even though the place burned down – there's gotta be something here that one of the ghosts are hiding. We have to find it!"

Nodding in agreement, the teams decided to split up and search for more clues.

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Ohtori, Momoshiro, Shishido and Oishi went looking around in the garden areas. Though they expected it to be a messed up place, it wasn't. The place was still adorned with flowers and the leaves were still ripe green. Oishi looked at the flowers and wondered. "Strange, shouldn't this be burned to a crisp after what this house has gone through?"

Ohtori checked under the bushes and heard sniffing. "Hey Shishido-san, I found something!"

The blue capped boy walked towards his taller kohai and behind the bushes they found a girl crying. "Mama… help me… Mama…"

Shishido called out to her as gently as possible. "Hey, I don't think you should stay in the bushes. You might get bitten or something."

The girl continued sniffing when she turned to face Shishido and Ohtori. "Mama…? Ryouji-kun?"

The boys didn't say anything but the girl looked absolutely normal. However, her crying face then changed into happy smile when she glomped Shishido. "Ryouji-kun! You're still here!"

Ohtori took a step back when Shishido collapsed on the floor. The girl was on top of him while giggling like always which totally caught Shishido off guard. However, what scared Shishido more is that the moment she leaned closer, the skin on her face began to peel off and her body was coated in red. She was half bald and her fingers had no skin. Gently tracing Shishido's face, she smiled. "Ryouji-kun, I always thought you were so cute."

Shishido's face remained aghast for the next three seconds while his mind was screaming. "WHY THE HELL DOES SHE THINK I'M HER BROTHER!? AT THE SAME TIME, SHE'S BEEN CRUSHING ON HER BROTHER??? HOW WHACK CAN THIS FAMILY BE!? AAAAAAH! INCEST!"

Ohtori tried to grab her off but her eyes glinted angrily at Ohtori. "Stay away from Ryouji-kun!"

The kohai however prioritized Shishido's safety over his so, he grabbed Shishido but she managed to grab his arm. Her hand melted through the regular's jacket like a hot knife through butter and soon, it began searing Ohtori's skin. Her grip remained fast; she wasn't letting go of Ohtori. "Don't you dare pull Ryouji-kun away from me," she shrieked while her grip on Ohtori tightened.

Oishi at first was at a loss at what to do when he remembered the thing that had been choking Fuji and Tezuka back then hated water. Luckily, he found a faucet near the bushes and luckily, there was still a hose attached to it. Oishi told Momoshiro. "Momo, put the hose on full blast!"

Without hesitation, Momoshiro began turning the switch to full power and water burst through the hose splashing Ohtori, Shishido and the girl. A loud wail was heard when the water splashed on them and the girl shrieked almost immediately. She vanished and let go of Ohtori who was still gasping in pain. Luckily, his skin didn't melt off but it left a third degree burn on his arm. Ohtori winced at the pain. "Boy, this ought to teach me not to mess with vengeful ghosts. Why did she think Shishido-san was Ryouji-san anyway?"

Shishido shrugged. "I look nothing like him! I've seen the kid and I look nothing like him!"

Momoshiro sniggered. "Maybe it's 'because you have a resemblance to him and she's gone really insane."

Shishido once again began suppressing his urge to kill Momoshiro. "Shut up, peach. At least I don't have a net ugly face like yours."

Momoshiro and Shishido tried to box each other but Oishi and Ohtori had to stop them before they caused a big war. "Look guys," –Oishi tried to be the peacemaker, "if we want to get out of this house alive, we have to cooperate. So, can we put our differences aside for the mean time?"

The two stopped and followed after Oishi into the backyard and there, they found even more flowers. Ohtori gulped. "Is this the part where they rise up from the ground and begin to attack us?"

Shishido pat Ohtori on the back. "Relax, Choutarou. I don't think they plan to well, unless they have mutagenic plants that do the work for them."

Momoshiro looked around and then, he suddenly tripped on something. Brushing away the leaves, Momoshiro couldn't believe what he was seeing. When he saw the thing he tripped on, his eyes widened by the minute while Momoshiro began stammering in horror. "Oishi-senpai, who has a graveyard in their back yard?"

The fuku buchou shook his head. "I don't think there is anyone who has a graveyard in their house, Momo. Why?"

Momoshiro pulled Oishi's sleeve and pointed him to what he saw. "Do you know this person?"

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Fuji, Oshitari, Gakuto and Kikumaru went as one group in order to investigate the next place. They dug through one of the rooms and Kikumaru found a cabinet. "Hey guys, I wonder what's in… ah!"

They went to Kikumaru and Fuji asked. "Eiji, what did you… that is… gross…"

Fuji's question was cut when they saw the closet. Sure there were clothes on the sides but, who kept the bodies of women hanging on the wall with their innards pulled out and placed in jars. Some were even in worse conditions. Oshitari fixed his glasses. "This man was sick… why was he doing all this? Next and most of all, why would he abuse women to his own liking? I mean – he didn't look like he had a motive for killing them."

"Yuushi for all you know," Gakuto sighed, "this man was probably sick in the head," –pointing to his head at the same time, "he was probably drunk too when he did all this!"

Fuji picked up a book on the desk while his blue eyes turned away from the horror in the closet. "I thought I was sadistic – this man kept all the dates of when and where he raped and killed his victim. But – the handwriting… it's different from some," –pointing to two of the lines, "one's messy so I think that was more Yukihisa-san's but the other one is neat… too neat in fact. It's like he knew… that he was going to do this."

Oshitari tilted his glasses. "The other thing is… what if…"

Then, they heard something knocking on the wood. Oshitari looked all over the room. "That was something… I didn't want to hear."

The taps were getting louder and a long trail of blood began appearing and the door slammed open. Crawling on the floor was a woman with her jet black hair all over her face with bluish tinted skin. She dragged herself while blood spilled on the floor with her mouth gaping open with two pairs of fangs and a missing left eye. She seemed to be crying tears of blood. _"Yukihisa-sama, please… help me…!"_

Now, they exchanged glances with each other until without any time to react, she pinned Oshitari to the wall. She was surprisingly strong for someone who was dead and was missing half her limbs. She pressed herself against the kansai prodigy. _"Yukihisa-sama…"_

Oshitari wasn't sure whether or not he should be disgusted with what he was seeing because soon, her body restored its colour when her lips pressed against his neck. He felt his body numbing and his eyes were getting dimmer. He couldn't see too well but he could very well tell that her dress was a bloody red colour. However, he felt something wet splash on him when he saw Gakuto with a glass. "Stay away from my doubles partner, you weird I don't know what you are!"

The woman glared at Gakuto. _"You were always like this, Rie. I will kill you, personally!"_

Everyone exchanged glances when they heard the name Gakuto was called. "Rie?"

She lunged at him and Gakuto was too frozen to move. However, he felt someone pull him down and it was none other than Kikumaru while Fuji had a mirror behind them. The woman entered the mirror which was followed with howling and screaming. Oshitari slumped to the floor breathing in horror. "If you could trap a ghost in there before, why didn't you do it!?"

Fuji sighed while still trying to regain his composure. "I wasn't sure. I took a gamble and luck seemed to be with me today. Yumiko-nee-san did tell me about mirrors having the ability to trap spirits but there was a low possibility."

Gakuto and Kikumaru were still shocked when they looked at the room. "Um, Fujiko-chan?" Kikumaru's voice quivered, "the door's gone."

"What," Fuji went looking around and the door they just entered was gone. The only door left was the one with the dead bodies hanging and everyone knew that a closet was a dead end.

Whatever was in that house wanted a mystery solved and was not letting anyone leave until they've solved it.

-That's Chapter 3! Please Review!


	4. Bloody Revelation

(I don't own Prince of Tennis! I had to rewrite it again because dear god, I replaced the wrong data! Damn, I'm so messed up so, I rewrote chapter 4 though it won't be the same so, read it well!)

Chapter 4 – Bloody Revelation

Apparently, after staying in the house could almost drive anybody insane. Kawamura was staying with Jirou and all because that the boy was knocked out like a light. Apparently, Jirou, being the narcoleptic he was, he easily fell asleep while the powerhouse of Seigaku watched him sleep his life away. No one knew how Jirou did this nor did anyone get how he managed to excite himself only once in awhile. Kawamura watched out for any ghosts. "I'm beginning to regret that I stayed here although, this is the only place that there are no ghosts."

Jirou finally managed to pull himself together with a yawn. "Where's everybody? Atobe? Hello?"

Kawamura sighed; Jirou could be so oblivious sometimes. "Ah well, they kinda left. We're staying here since this is the only place that isn't attacked by strange flying objects."

The curly haired Hyotei regular nodded and proceeded to sleep again until he heard something hissing. "Oi, what was that?"

Kawamura gave him an awkward look. "What?"

The two listened closely for hissing sounds but found nothing. Kawamura looked at the eeriness of the room and he didn't see anything until he saw something slithering near Jirou. "Um… what was his name again," –he thought, "oh yeah," –tugging on Jirou's regular's jacket, "Um, Akutagawa-san, you… you…"

Jirou didn't seem the least bit amused. "It's nothing, Kawamura-san. I'm going to sleep."

Then again, Jirou had second thoughts about sleeping when he saw snakes crawling all over the place with rippling blue scales and demonic red eyes. They hissed angrily and lunged at the sleepy Hyotei student who rolled on the floor in fright. "Yaaaaaaah! Snakes!"

Kawamura, wasting no time at all grabbed Jirou and made a mad sprint though he wasn't as fast as he normally was when he was on burning mode. However, the fact that there were snakes reinforced his will to run and replaced his exhaustion with renewed adrenaline. Jirou was being dragged while he somehow managed to keep up with Kawamura and was no longer sleepy after seeing the snakes. "Where did these snakes come from!?"

Kawamura gulped. "I have no clue!"

Jirou saw the snakes gaining on them and he was at a loss. Actually, both of them were at a loss on what to do. They were completely dumbfounded and they had no idea on how to deal with snakes that seemed to be so huge because with so many twists and turns, they were bound to be caught somewhere but they never did. It was as if their body was never ending and that wasn't very helpful for the two. Kawamura prayed in his mind. "I hope get to bump into someone at least! Or maybe, somehow get caught somewhere!"

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Meanwhile, in another hallway, Tezuka, Echizen, Atobe and Hiyoshi were walking around. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary except the extraordinary eeriness and silence in the room. Tezuka looked at the little tennis prodigy whose breathing required more effort now. His face was white and pale and his movements were lagging. Atobe rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Hurry up, brat! You're taking quite forever!"

However, because Atobe wasn't that spiritually active, Tezuka managed to see something that they all couldn't. There was something attached to Echizen and he had a creepy grin on his face. His fangs were yellowish while his hand had phased through the young prodigy's body though it focused more on the thoracic part of his body. Its smile was mocking; it was taunting Tezuka to do something about him and his method of taunting Tezuka was squeezing Echizen's heart like a lemon. The boy winced in pain while Tezuka masked his fear and concern; if he showed any emotion now, it would completely catch them off guard and it would do something worse to Echizen. His poker face remained; he was still racking his brains for a way how to get that demon off Echizen.

"I thought you were in the painting," Hiyoshi smirked.

The demon's face paled while there stood the smirking Hyotei ace. "Though I normally couldn't see ghosts, I think your outline was quite good enough."

Atobe smirked. "You may be able to hide from other people but, you cannot fool ore-sama's eyes!"

The demon howled while it squeezed Echizen's heart harder causing the tennis prodigy to let out a small whimper. "_Hee-hee! Do you think you can fight me? Not at this state! I'll squeeze this kid like a lemon! Then, he'll suffocate and die! You're never gonna solve the mystery! Never! Never! Though I have to admit, you're quite interesting, Te-zu-chan," _–it continued to mock, _"you're just like your old man now ne?"_

Tezuka knew that the demon was talking about his grandfather and chose not to say anything for now. However, he wasn't sure that Atobe and Hiyoshi could see it so he was clearly helpless in this situation. One wrong move could get Echizen killed and Atobe and Hiyoshi were both completely oblivious to whatever was lurking behind Echizen. However, he didn't know that because he and Echizen were spiritually powerful to the point they can see and hear ghosts in high spec, it dripped off to Atobe and Hiyoshi little by little.

It chanted it's mock like a song and Hiyoshi growled. "I may not be a very good friend or even on good terms with this idiot," –referring to Echizen, "but, somehow, looking at your face and hearing your voice makes me want to kick your ass! I mean – I don't need to see you clearly, an outline even if it's blurry is good enough!"

Hiyoshi threw a punch above Echizen's left shoulder and the demon, in desperate attempt to escape leapt off while Hiyoshi's fist met its face. Echizen collapsed forward allowing Tezuka to catch him and during the commotion, when the demon scampered away, Atobe made a firm imprint of his shoe on the demon's back. "Nice try, you're going to have to do more to out smart ore-sama!"

The demon however didn't seem the least bit afraid despite Atobe somehow having the upper hand over him. "_Hee hee! You think that I can only phase through people? Then, you're quite a stupid boy! You don't know anything of this house! Let alone the past that this house embodied! You know, there's something you missed out! Just because I don't look like much, you think you can step on me? Hah! If I can phase through people then, I can possess them too! You're going to be the perfect host for me!"_

"Wha," Atobe was caught off guard by the demon's tactic and their spirits overlapped causing Atobe to freeze in his tracks. His body stilled and his eyes slowly changed and so did the aura that was surrounding him. However, no one had noticed because Hiyoshi was thinking that it ran off while Tezuka checked Echizen to make sure he was okay after that. The demon did have an effect on him and the moment it left, Echizen's colour rushed back into his face and as soon as they had begun to leave, Hiyoshi tugged Atobe's sleeve. "Oi, let's go! What the hell? You're the one hurrying us up but now you don't want to move! What the hell…?"

Atobe's laughter was somewhat soft despite Hiyoshi's scolding. Then, slowly, it became more maniacal while his once deep voice changed into a more demonic sounding one. "So, you think you can finish this mystery and come out alive!? That's such a childish fairy tale! This body," –referring to Atobe while he was looking at it, "is exactly what I need to kill you!"

With a swing of his arm, he flung Hiyoshi back and the three regulars were shocked how Atobe gained that amount of strength in that short period of time. When they found themselves looking at Atobe, the captain of Hyotei had completely changed. His hands became more claw like and while one side of his face or rather, his left side maintain his icy blue eyes; his right side had completely deformed. His right eye now which once had white sclera was now black while his irises were red with two black pupils moving separately from each other. Veins bulged from his temples and fangs revealed itself while he grinned wickedly. "I can kill you here! No one will know what happened here," –walking towards a drawer, Atobe drew a knife, "This boy won't even remember that he murdered you! This is perfect! The ultimate crime! So, time for you to meet your graves!"

Hiyoshi didn't like what he was seeing. "I don't think I want to kill my buchou."

Without a second thought while Atobe's laughter rang in his ears incessantly, Tezuka grabbed the two juniors and bolted like his life depended on it which it did. Atobe watched them while letting out a loud maniacal laughter. "Run, run! You can't hide from me! I can find you! I'll dig my mouth through your flesh and feast on your bowels! I will lap every ounce of your blood and tear you apart as you scream your hearts out and I will crush your little organs like lemons! You can't stop me! See if you can out run me, Tezuka!"

Apparently, the demon knew his name and Tezuka didn't bother with that matter. First Echizen and now, a maniacal Atobe was on the loose with a knife in hand. Hiyoshi was running while he looked at Atobe who was quickly catching up with them. "Um, since when did he get that kind of speed?"

Echizen looked at Atobe with a snort. "I don't think I remember him even that kind of speed. He wasn't that insane or sadistic either. Monkey king was never this murderous or wild."

Hiyoshi let out a groan of annoyance. "I do Gegokujou but I didn't imagine overthrowing Atobe would be like this!"

Tezuka looked around and noticed that the walls soon began melting with blood. Scratching and loud pounding was heard while the walls seemed to cry out to them. "Echizen, find something with water."

The capped tennis prodigy gave his buchou a weird glance. "Why?"

Tezuka looked at a rampaging and a quickly dashing Atobe. "We need a place to trap him and maybe, we might need to flood the place."

For him to resort to something a little risky seeing that Atobe was now running wild with a knife meant that Tezuka was serious, Echizen quickly began looking around and saw a door half open and saw it was a bathroom inside. Hiyoshi nearly sped past him but he grabbed the boy's collar while he managed to stop Tezuka from running. "Will this do?"

Wasting no time at all, Tezuka got them into the bathroom while slamming the door behind him and they could hear Atobe's taunting voice behind the door. "I know where you are! Your blood's like honey to me! You can't hide! I love the fear in your hearts! I can just taste them! I can hear it wildly beating with blood!"

Hiyoshi looked aghast at the door before throwing a glance at Echizen. "Well, what the hell are you waiting for? Fill the damn thing with water!"

Echizen turned the knob of the faucet on full blast which also included the shower head but, there was no water. Tapping it several times, Echizen even bothered kicking it to see if there was anything stuck. Still, there was nothing. He looked at the other sink and turned it on full blast but there was nothing either and he somehow looked forward for there to be water in the toilet but, though he wished he could somehow humiliate Atobe, there was no water even in the toilet. Hiyoshi snapped. "What's taking you so long!? I mean it's just water!"

Echizen snapped back with a note of finality. "That's the problem! There isn't any here!"

Hiyoshi retorted. "Well, you better get that filled up," –barring the door, "he's going to get in here in two minutes," when he heard something splinter, he saw a glint of steel while the jabbing and smashing became even more repetitive and more forceful, "scratch that, he's coming here in one minute!"

Echizen began looking around desperately until Tezuka just calmly told Hiyoshi. "Open the door."

Hiyoshi was even more appalled with Tezuka's idea. "What!? With an insane Atobe out there!? Are you serious!?"

The look on Tezuka's face was good enough to give an answer and Hiyoshi shrugged. "You better have a good idea to do this. I don't have a weapon so fighting Atobe, is not an option."

The moment Hiyoshi let go of the door, Tezuka got the two juniors behind him while the door finally broke down while a cloud of dust covered them all to reveal a very maniacal and evil Atobe with a knife in his hand. Due to his tight grip around the knife, Atobe didn't bother looking at the fact that hand was bleeding from the nails and his icy blue eye was slowly losing its lustre. Tezuka remembered something about that; his mother was the one who could see ghosts and she said once the lustre of a possessed person's eye has vanished; the person is as good as dead. "Don't move. Hold your ground til the very last moment."

Echizen trusted his buchou while Hiyoshi was left with no other choice while Atobe howled with lunacy. "There's no way out! What are you going to do now, Te-zu-chan?"

The nickname caused Tezuka to twitch a little but he kept it hidden. He was more focused in getting them out of the house and solving the mystery and he just hoped that Atobe would lunge so he could duck and drag the two juniors with him and lock him up in the bathroom. Though the hinges of the door were completely destroyed, that didn't mean that the door was completely useless. Atobe let out a loud howl while he spat and swinging the knife at the same time. "See ya in hell, Echizen, Hiyoshi, Tezuka."

Like it was second instinct to him, Tezuka moved fast enough while Atobe lunged towards them and clumsily fell into the toilet. Tezuka took to consideration the fact that sometimes, Atobe would trip over his own feet and he took advantage of it. "Echizen, Hiyoshi, now!"

The two juniors followed his lead while slamming the door behind him while leaning against the door to bar him until finally, Tezuka founded one of the tables where the knife was previously hidden to block the door while they all slumped on the floor out of breath. Echizen growled. "I swear; monkey king's finally gone bonkers."

Hiyoshi gave him a duh stare. "Ya think!?"

Tezuka didn't say anything while trying to catch their breath. They heard loud clanging and they knew it was the king of Hyotei [or rather, the demon that had possessed Atobe] throwing a tantrum because he lost his prey but he felt Echizen tap his shoulder. "Buchou, is it just me or is the carpet getting wet?"

Tezuka felt the floor and so did Hiyoshi, the floor was getting wet. Hiyoshi hissed. "You said there was no damn water!"

"I turned the knob full blast," protested Echizen, "wanna check again!?"

"No way, not with a crazed Atobe in there," snapped Hiyoshi.

"Enough," Tezuka's cold commanding voice shut the two juniors' mouths while he stood up to move the table away. He held the door while glancing at the two juniors. "Get ready to run on my signal."

The two nodded slowly while Tezuka slowly turned the knob. The door fell down the moment he pulled it and there was Atobe's lifeless body in the tub while the water was suspended in the air. The water was black in colour while a loud howl echoed in the air while it grew fainter while it ran through the hallway. Hiyoshi looked up. "What the hell?"

Without giving them a moment to even grab Atobe, water flooded the place and the pressure of the water shoved them against the wall with Tezuka hitting the wall while catching Echizen while Hiyoshi had to catch the unconscious king of Hyotei while the water spilled out. They were officially soaked while Echizen shrugged. "I put it on full blast."

Tezuka nodded stiffly. "I'm sure you did."

Hiyoshi let out a breath of relief. "I think it's gone now. But, what about…?"

Before they could say anything, Atobe slowly began to stir and he got up while rubbing his temple with an annoyed groan. "Arn~? Would someone mind telling me why ore-sama is soaked!?"

Tezuka replied calmly. "You threw yourself into a bathtub."

Atobe's reaction became from annoyed to shock and horrified. "What, you can't be serious, right!? Ore-sama would never do something that stupid!"

Echizen smirked at the Hyotei King's reaction while he continued. "You tripped into the bathtub and landed into the toilet, mole diva."

Atobe's reactions were getting funnier by the moment while Hiyoshi couldn't help but smirk. Tezuka nudged the little pillar of support. "Echizen, that's enough."

"Gomen," Echizen apologized sourly; he wanted to see Atobe's shocked and appalled reaction more.

Atobe was ready to pull out his hair. "Did I do anything else stupid? Asides from," –he continuously began glaring at Echizen, "tripping into the bathtub."

Hiyoshi let out a sarcastic laugh. "Hah, if you think swinging a knife is not stupid then, yeah, you did nothing."

"Spare me the smart ass talk," Atobe snorted while he was ready to kick both Echizen and Hiyoshi, "now what?"

Tezuka got up. "Well, the best thing we can do for now is look for more things and best thing to do, is find their bodies."

Hiyoshi stifled his laughter when he heard that. "Atobe's will do anything but dig for bodies."

Atobe scoffed. "Don't tell me what I won't or can't do, Hiyoshi."

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Inui, Kabaji, Kaidoh and Taki were all in the study searching for stuff. Inui was scribbling down in his notebook while Taki had been digging through more and more folders. Kabaji was carrying another box with him while handing it to Taki. "Usu."

Taki looked up. "Thanks just place them here, Kabaji."

Kaidoh was looking all over the place while he found a little black notebook. He picked up. "Inui-senpai, whose is this?"

Inui examined it while blowing away the dust that the little black notebook had collected. "Hmm," –looking through the writings, Inui scribbled on his own notebook, "ii data."

Kaidoh could only sweat drop while Inui continued to look through the main archives of the family. Taki sighed. "This family's so messed up," –Taki continued to look through only to end up throwing the book down in frustration, "there's no records of anything! None of the marriages but I only found one and that's the one between Sagaraki Hina and Kiritsuga Yukihisa! How is this little record supposed to help us!? I mean, we need the murder weapon, the members of the family and yet, we don't have anything!"

Kabaji began looking through notebooks to until his face showed a hint of expression while tapping Taki on the shoulder and pointing out something. Taki took the notebook and his face showed more disgust every time he glanced at it. "Ugh, that's disgusting, Kabaji! Put it away!"

"Usu," came the taller kohai's reply.

Then, suddenly, Kaidoh heard wood creaking on the floor. He definitely didn't like the sound of that. "Inui-senpai, please tell me that was just you."

The bespectacled data man of Seigaku gave his doubles partner a glance. "Huh? What do you mean? I don't hear anything."

Then, all of a sudden, the window slammed open and the glass shattered from the force. The curtains billowed in the chilling wind while they stared in horror. Thunder crackled in the air while lightning flashed amongst the trees. Taki noticed Kabaji shivering a little while he pats the kohai on the head with an assuring smile. "It's alright, Kabaji. It's just a little thunder, everything's gonna be fine."

Thunder struck again and this time, he got shocked. Jumping up, Taki knocked over a lamp which then pulled a wire which caused Kaidoh to trip over and hit Inui who was holding a book and soon, the entire library came crashing down. Kaidoh stood up quickly to hold up the shelf but it never fell. It was creaking with weakness but the wooden shelves never fell. They looked up and noticed that the shelves were tilting but it never came down. Inui looked at the shelves. "How is it that it was burned, it still managed to hold itself up? This cabinet is truly fascinating. Ii data," Inui began scribbling again.

Then, while they were looking they heard something come behind them. It was a little boy who was all alone in the corner wrapped snugly in a blanket. Taki tugged Kabaji on the jacket. "Kabaji, who is that? Wasn't this house completely burned down so why is there still…?"

The little boy was scratching against the wall while scratch marks began to appear. He turned around to reveal his sickly face when he revealed what was wrong. Half his teeth were missing while his hair was wet like a mangy mess. The blanket was burnt while his mouth was open with despair. His skull revealed itself at the left side of his face while he slowly began taking steps towards them. His hands were stretched out while moving towards them. _"Tasukete…"_

Kaidoh shivered until he turned around to see hooded men in black. He heard something unsheathe itself like a sword and saw sickles in their hands. Under the hoods, they were smiling yellow toothy grins and their eyes glowed red. Kaidoh desperately began tugging Inui. "Um, um, Inui-senpai?"

Inui remembered that his doubles partner was particularly not fond of ghosts. "Kaidoh, there's nothing here. It's alright."

Kaidoh stared at him, appalled by his words while he grabbed him to face what was in front of them. "Then tell me what that is!"

Soon, Taki noticed that there were several hooded men surrounding them while he tugged Kabaji. "Kabaji, stay close."

The taller kohai said nothing but followed Taki anyway. They were slowly moving against each other while the men with scythes drew closer. Kaidoh was shivering and resisting the urge to scream his brains out until he saw a man behind them in a suit. He looked relatively harmless and he noticed that he was pointing to something. "What are you trying to make me do???"

The man continued to point while Kaidoh looked around frantically; he knew it, they were all doomed and he was probably pointing at them telling them that they were such morons. However, he was surprised when the man rolled his eyes and disappeared. Before the bandana wearing Seigaku player knew it, he felt his body go weak and completely under someone else's will. His eyes dulled while his body slowly straightened up. He jumped towards one of the torches and began swinging it around. The men in hoods drew back frightened while letting out a hiss of displeasure while they vanished. The little boy began screaming in a high pitched voice and the moment Kaidoh pointed the torch at the boy, with instantaneous speed, the boy dashed towards his end of the corner while he vanished.

Inui was amazed with what Kaidoh just did. "That was amazing, Kaidoh, you managed to go against your fear of ghosts."

Taki let out a sigh of relief. "Here I was thinking I was done for. You Seigaku people sure tend to surprise people a lot."

"I'm sorry," Kaidoh's gruff voice became smoother and more velvet; "I'll be borrowing his body for awhile. I hope you all don't mind."

Taki and Inui exchanged glances with each other; first of all, Kaidoh doesn't sound like that and here he was standing erect. They all knew one thing; Kaidoh has this tendency to slouch and here he was, standing erect like a young gentleman and if Momoshiro saw this, he was going to get sick. Sick with laughter that is. "Kaidoh, are you alright?"

"He's alright," Kaidoh said simply while he turned to face them while his once stern face changed into a softer expression. "I just need him to explain things to you. I need you guys to know this: This house is very confusing. It's big and there are many things in it that's hard to understand. It was a good tactic to spread out but you should also take into consideration of those who are spiritually active. They are the ones best equipped for the situation."

Inui stared in shock; Taki was speechless and Kabaji was still the usual when they found the once rough and tough Kaidoh speaking like a gentleman. The possessed Kaidoh took a seat and folded his legs while he made a small smile. "Shall we begin? I think I can answer some of your questions."

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Momoshiro, Ohtori, Shishido and Oishi were also in another area of the house only God knows where after they checked the garden. Shishido let out an annoyed sigh while huffing in total frustration. "This house is so damn big. I wouldn't be surprised if we walked into the wrong room because everything looks the damn same! I mean - don't they have any labels for the rooms or something!?"

Momoshiro heard something splinter. "Hey, guys, did you hear what I just heard?"

Oishi listened closely. "Yeah, that didn't sound good. Where's it coming from?"

Shishido felt Ohtori tug his jacket when he turned around. "What is it?"

The tall silver haired kohai was speechless when he pointed to at what was in front of them. The floor slowly began splintering itself and then, it stopped for a moment and it seemed to have noticed that it had seen them so, it accelerated in splintering the floor and soon, the whole floor was splitting itself in two. Shishido grabbed Ohtori. "Run, damnit!"

The four broke into a fast sprint ignoring where they ended up as long as they got away from the floor. However, they stopped at a certain point because they saw black dogs glaring at them with their yellowish teeth and their blood shot eyes beadily staring at them. Momoshiro gulped. "Damn, not now... please tell me we don't have to...!"

Before the trickster of Seigaku could say anything, Oishi grabbed him and the dogs darted after him. Ohtori quickly tailed after Shishido who was quickly dashing in effort to lose the dogs. However, while doing so, they ended up bumping into another party which also had a pack of dogs coming after them. Oishi exclaimed with cheer. "Taka-san! Akutagawa-san"

Kawamura sighed. "This house is so dangerous! First thing you know, we're being chased by snakes! The next thing you know, we're being chased by dogs! How is that even possible?"

Shishido rolled his eyes while scowling towards the two. "Guys, less talking more running!"

What shocked them even more was that Jirou was wide awake and really running. The dogs slowly gained on them and what scared them even more was the fact that they ran so fast to the point that they were actually climbing on the walls. They didn't bother caring which part of the place the ended up in. They just wanted to get out or away from the dogs. However, they never realized that they hit a dead end and only to find out that the dogs cornered them. Shishido grumbled. "Shit, this isn't good! There's nothing here to lure the dogs away."

Saliva foamed at the mouths of the jet black dogs until one of them started standing more erect. A drastic change started to take place and the dogs face slowly shaped into a man's. His hands kept the claws intact and his fangs were red; in his other hand however, he managed to pull out a sickle behind them while menacingly advancing towards them. His smile was very disturbing and Ohtori and the others had no where to run. This was it; they were at the end of their ropes.

Momoshiro looked around and saw nothing until he saw a young woman standing in front of him with a smile. She was pointing at something and Momoshiro slapped his forehead. "How are we supposed to get to the other side when we can't even cross!? There's a mad man with a sickle coming towards us and we can't even phase through."

The woman had a pout on her face; it was obvious that she was annoyed by the fact that Momoshiro didn't understand what she was pointing at. So, she herself phased through and entered the black haired sophomore's body. His purple eyes dulled and the man maniacally began to laugh. "Nowhere to run now!"

However, while the others were busy being terrified, Momoshiro calmly walked towards a painting which was hanging there and calmly tilted it in a different angle. Oishi looked at Momoshiro. "Momo-chan, are you okay? You're acting so weird and...!"

Before he could get an answer out of Momoshiro, they fell through a trap door and no one knew where they were going. They all just hoped that it was away from the merciless dogs that were about to eat their innards. They all fell in first Oishi, followed by Momoshiro and then, followed by Shishido then, Ohtori fell in and Kawamura and Jirou tailed after. They all crashed into a dark room and they couldn't even make out anything. They heard dripping sounds and Shishido looked around. "It's so damn dark, where the hell is the light?"

From Momoshiro's body, there was a faint light that separated them and standing in front of them was a young woman. She looked like she was an older version of Mitsuda and with a sorrowful smile, she bowed down. _"Forgive me, the dogs tend to be very vicious. This whole house is dripping with dark intentions. Oh by the way, the light," _-she pointed up, "it's over there."

Shishido looked to where she was pointing and jumped up. "Damn, I'm too short."

Ohtori stretched his arm up and pulled the chain down with ease and what they saw was worse than a horror movie. Inside with them, was a mountain of bodies and Jirou felt like his body was going down at the sight. He even felt like puking. "That's so gross..."

Oishi stared mortified at the sight of the mangled and mutilated bodies and some were missing body parts but many of them, were women. Among the pile, there were even babies among them. Shishido held his breath at the sight and turned away in total disgust. "We're in a human disposal. Who in the world can do those things without a damn conscience?"

Momoshiro turned around to ask the woman. "So, who are you?"

The woman smiled ruefully. _"I'm Sagaraki Yuma. I'm Mitsuda's sister and... um...mother..."_

Oishi's jaw dropped. "You're here mother? How can that be?"

Yuma twiddled with her fingers. _"I'm not exactly what you call her birth mother. But, the point is, I just wanted to say I'm sorry. Mitsuda's pretty angry by the fact that she was hurt so much when she never did anything wrong so in order to bring people here, she tends to attack and chase people here. Countless people have come in for the thrill of horror rides. You were all brought here for a reason. I would like to thank you for coming here. I just wished I could somehow explain things to you."_

Shishido looked at the bodies of one of the babies. "Damn, this one's... missing something..."

Ohtori couldn't believe what he was seeing either. "I can't believe it, who would do something like this? I mean," -tears slipped out of the taller kohai's eyes when he gazed sadly at the bodies, "when we get out of here, we might as well give them a proper burial and tell the people they know what happened to them."

Yuma smiled weakly at Ohtori. _"You're such a kind boy, Ohtori-kun. Ryouji had been talking a lot about you lately before he died. I'm sorry if I'm not much but there's a stairway that leads out of here. I'm not sure anymore where to go."_

Kawamura did the sign of the cross. "May they rest in peace when we solve this mystery."

Oishi nodded. "Likewise."

Jirou looked around and pointed excitedly. "Look! The stairway!"

Yuma sighed in relief. _"It's a good thing the basement is still intact. I just don't know where it will lead you. I just hope that there will be more spirits here that will gladly help you in finishing the mystery. I'm sorry if I wasn't much help."_

Shishido smirked. "You were more help than you realized. We'd be dead if you didn't possess Momoshiro here to turn that painting in order to save our asses."

Yuma smiled. _"Thank you, Shishido-kun. I can only wish you all the best of luck. Although I can only warn you, what looks like something harmless is not always harmless. Be careful."_

Oishi smiled. "We will. Don't worry."

_"However," _Yuma said weakly, _"the best way actually to end this mystery is to relive that day."  
_

Jirou looked at her awkwardly. "Relive which day?"

Yuma looked down with a bitter sweet smile. _"The Vermillion Banquet. That's actually the best solution."_

Shishido slapped his head. "Damn, we don't even know what happened back then."

Ohtori nodded. "We'll do our best, Yuma-san. We'll try to help you rest in peace."

A smile tugged at her lips while she led them towards the stairs for them to start with their search. _"Gambatte, please succeed. For all of us."_

-That's the revamped Chapter 4! Please review!


	5. Digging For The Corpses

(I don't own Prince of Tennis!)

Chapter 5 – Digging for Corpses

Hiyoshi, Atobe, Tezuka and Echizen were looking around to make sure there was nothing there. They were completely soaked and drenched to the point they couldn't really tell what uniform they were wearing anymore. It was burgundy and since they were completely soaked. It was more different. Hiyoshi looked around and when he opened the doors, he was lucky enough not to get his head or any part of limbs chopped off. "Geez, there's nothing here."

Echizen was pretty nonchalant with what just happened. His condition seemed to have improved ever since that thing had left his body. However, soon, he began hearing something whirring in quick speed. The capped prodigy began looking around but he found nothing. He turned to his buchou. "Buchou, do you hear that?"

Tezuka didn't hesitate to nod. "I can hear it loud and clear, Echizen."

Atobe snorted in annoyance when he clearly didn't understand what Echizen and Tezuka were talking about. "What? Ore-sama can't hear anything! There's nothing here!"

Hiyoshi tapped his buchou's shoulder. "Atobe, how can you not hear that?"

The Hyotei King whipped around ready to scream at Hiyoshi for telling him off. "Hear," then he stopped in mid sentence when he heard the whirring sound, finally. He looked around and couldn't find the source and he hissed. "That doesn't sound good."

The freshman tennis prodigy looked around frantically. "Buchou, doesn't that sound more like a…"

"A chainsaw," Tezuka cut him off when they heard heavy thumping and whirring when they saw a man in a jumper with a peg leg. In his right hand, there was a glove while in his left, there was a chain saw. A maniacal smile displayed itself on his face as he started making his way towards Tezuka and the others. Atobe's eyes widened with horror. "Oh damn."

Echizen and Tezuka made a mad dash while the man stumbled towards them. Atobe and Hiyoshi soon followed and the man's pace quickened despite his stubby leg. He marched his way towards them and he began yelling. _"THIS PLACE WAS NEVER MEANT FOR YOU! YOU ARE NOT WORTHY TO WITNESS MY GLORY! LEAVE THIS PLACE AT ONCE! OR BETTER YET – MAYBE I SHOULD KILL YOU SO YOU WILL NEVER RETURN AMONGST THE LIVING EVER AGAIN!"_

While running, soon, they heard something stumble on the ground. They turned around for a moment and saw that the man was soon being pulled down. He used his hands to crawl on the floor while letting out a hiss. _"Damn you bitch, get away from me!"_

The woman's face was contorted with fear as soon as he started dismembering her body and blood splattered against the wall. The floors too began to crack into many crevices and hands began dragging him down but he was a bit too strong because despite all that, he managed to march his way towards them but a lot slower this time. In effort to get them off, he dug his teeth into their flesh and began ripping them apart. He ran his peg leg through one of the hands causing an unearthly wail to sound out in the entire hallway. He plunged his head into her bowels and ripped out their entrails; causing even more blood to spill out on the floor.

They were thoroughly disgusted and they made a break for it. Echizen then spotted a vent from afar. A chute that had an opening that could have them all fit in. "That way!"

No one seemed to hear him because they were all concentrated on running. However, Echizen managed to grab Hiyoshi who fell into the chute with Atobe. "Tezuka, in here!"

Before the bespectacled captain could say anything, he was dragged in by Atobe who was being dragged down by Hiyoshi. Lucky for him though that Atobe grabbed him because if the king hadn't dragged him down, the chain saw would have neatly sliced off his head. They all slid in while a loud howl rang in the steel walls of the chute. Kicking himself mentally for getting so careless, Tezuka then noticed that he something was flooding the chute. When he turned back, a whole flood of blood began to pour in and began giving them more momentum down the chute.

The ride didn't seem long however because when they were spat out, the chute led them to a place and blood splattered on the floor leaving the regulars to pile on top of each other. Hiyoshi was under Atobe while Tezuka managed to avoid crushing Echizen as they rolled next to each other. Hiyoshi snorted while drying off his jacket. "Damn, that was some joy ride! What the hell was that…?"

When he turned back, the opening for the chute was gone. Blood was still splattered on the floor and Hiyoshi could only gape in awe and bewilderment when he saw the chute hole vanish. "Where the hell are we now? What the hell is this place?"

Atobe looked around while pushing away the cobwebs that littered the place. "This place looks like some catacomb or something."

Echizen raised an eyebrow. "Aren't catacombs for like the churches or something?"

Tezuka continued to look around while trying to figure a way out. This place looked like a place where they would keep a dead person. This was like their personal graveyard but the thing that made him what to differ was the fact that there were so many covered shelves and candles. Exactly like what Echizen had said, this was like a catacomb; a place for their dead. Atobe on the other hand was looking around until he found a placard that was missing something. All it said was:

Kiritsuga Yukihisa

"_May you burn in hell."_

Atobe was appalled by that statement; what kind of obituary was that? He had already gone through a hard life and now you're condemning him even further. This made no sense to the king of Hyotei while he continued to search around. "There's nothing here except a condemnation for a man. Find anything?"

Hiyoshi lifted the cloth until a hand suddenly dropped on to his arm. The ace of Hyotei was about to flick it away until its grip remained firm on his arm. Hiyoshi's eyes widened with horror and when he managed to kick it off, the head fell down and the body fell on top of him. With a furious swing, Hiyoshi managed to knock off the body but the hand remained latched. The other hand picked up its skull and put it on its neck once more and soon, her face began to reveal itself. _"Don't worry, I won't hurt you, Hiyoshi-kun."_

Hiyoshi shivered while a red long flowing red dress started to take shape. Her lips began pressing towards Hiyoshi and the Hyotei ace shook violently but she wouldn't let go. She slammed him against the wall with such extreme force to the point that a few little rocks fell out of the wall. Her eye sockets revealed themselves while her mangy and greasy hair flowed past her shoulders. Echizen took notice of Hiyoshi and though he wasn't pretty fond of his counter part of Hyotei, he tried to knock down the woman who quickly dodged Echizen's tackle and landed on the wall like a spider while hissing venomously. Echizen smirked while she lunged at him again while he dodged but before she could hit him but she then stopped dead in her tracks when she felt herself get wet. Shaking her head like a mangy dog, she found water droplets on her skin while she glowered at Tezuka who managed to find a water source attached to the wall with a wet hand. "Looks like water has a purifying effect on you."

Howling with anger, she lunged forward to knock him down but Tezuka side stepped while she knocked Echizen over who crashed towards Atobe and the two ended up crashing on top of each other. The coffin case was opened and a skeleton peeked out while the woman continued to try and attack Tezuka. Atobe noticed a hilt sticking out of the coffin and he threw it at Hiyoshi. "Run her through!"

Hiyoshi looked at the thing Atobe just gave him. "What the hell is this? I can't even defend myself with this!"

The woman lunged again and this time, she was aiming for Hiyoshi but the moment she was a few inches away from his face. Her mouth distorted with horror while she vanished and smashed the window. Shards rained down and blood spilled from the pipes. Atobe looked at the floor and saw that the shards took the face of the woman while blood was used to show her tears. "That's one vengeful spirit."

Echizen gulped. "I'd say."

For a moment, Tezuka looked to his right and saw a little girl standing near him. She was in a pretty white dress with a hat covering her head. In her hands, she was holding a teddy bear while she took hold of Tezuka's hand and led him towards the coffin. _"That's Mayumi-chan's daddy? See?"_

Tezuka looked at her quietly and she had an innocent smile on her face. However, Tezuka was more amazed by the fact that despite her having a bullet imbedded at the nape of her neck, she wasn't as violent as the others. Her wound was more severe and yet, she showed no signs of hostility and with her body engulfed by a white aura, he could tell that she was completely harmless. She looked at the bespectacled captain pleadingly. _"Please help us. We need your help, nii-san. Mitsuda-nee-chan always spoke on what a great person you were. Please, will you…?"_

Atobe looked around while he saw Tezuka nodding to somebody. "Hey, who the hell are you nodding at? Has staying in this house made you insane?"

"Atobe," Tezuka was about to explain until he remembered that Atobe was hopeless in seeing ghosts, "it's just a little girl."

The king of Hyotei raised his eyebrow. "What? I don't see anything."

Tezuka let out a defeated sigh at this. "There are just some things I can see but you can't, Atobe."

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Oshitari, Gakuto, Fuji and Kikumaru now moved along the other parts of the house despite entering what was once a closet. They were at the place of the bedrooms and many of the things were drenched in blood. Gakuto looked around with an annoyed sigh. "Geez, we're never going to get anywhere, let alone we're going even make it out within a week!"

Kikumaru clung on to Fuji while the tension in the air got tenser. "Nyah, Fujiko-chan... this place is getting weirder by the minute..."

Fuji didn't say anything because he was busy looking around. Then suddenly, Oshitari stopped in his tracks while noticing a sudden shift. "Guys, hold up."

They all stopped while Gakuto began shivering with horror but trying to sound brave anyway. "Yuushi, what's up?"

Oshitari glanced at the walls. "Nothing has attacked us so far, it's as if, something's trying to lead us somewhere and so, they cleared the pathway for us."

Fuji threw a glance to the kansai prodigy. "I don't think so. The place is so quiet and so undisturbed that it's really, unnerving."

The four started to get even more jittered while they began looking around. Fuji was right; the place was too quiet and too undisturbed. Wood creaked under them and the doors didn't fling open at them.

However, they slowly heard footsteps from once a faded sound into a loud thump on the rotten wood floor. Jumping up in fright, Kikumaru tightened his grip on Fuji's arm. "Fujiko-chan, did you hear that

footstep sound? Doesn't that sound a little heavy?"

Fuji's blue eyes popped open; this was exactly what he was waiting for and expecting to happen. "Yeah, you're not the only one."

_"So, you made it inside and alive_,_"_ a smooth voice said while holding a glass of wine.

They turned around while the man began swirling it around while Oshitari looked at it closely. "That's anything but wine. The content is too thick..."

The man's normal smile slowly became maniacal as soon as he took a sip out of his glass. _"Of course not, would you like tequila? I think you're quite thirsty are you?"_

Gakuto gulped. "I don't think I want a te---ah, what is that?"

There was something in the man's glass and they were definitely sure that it wasn't a worm. The man swirled the contents of his glass while he proceeded to sip. The more sips he took, his eyes slowly became bloodshot red and his yellowish teeth were red with blood while he grinned with a toothy and maniacal smile. _"So, you think you can make it out alive? There's no chance that you can escape this place! This place will be marked with your tombstones and your blood!"_

Fog began to clog and enshroud the hallway and they heard something stomping towards them. The ground was shaking and Gakuto whimpered. "Yuushi, we ought to run, NOW!"

Oshitari didn't need to be told twice upon what to do. The kansai prodigy made a break for it followed by Fuji, Kikumaru and Gakuto. The man's maniacal laugh echoed in the hallway as they noticed something crawling on the walls. Digging sounds grew louder and louder while Kikumaru noticed things even trying to jump after him. "Mou~, Fuji! Where do we go now!?"

Fuji wasted no time at all to look at the end of the hallway while grabbing Kikumaru. "This way!"

The red head was dragged while Oshitari and Gakuto tailed after Fuji. The kansai blue haired prodigy sighed. "Geez, it's like this house wants us dead! First they want us to solve a mystery and then they attack," - gazing in amazement at Fuji, "how do you manage to even run that fast and far?"

Fuji shrugged. "I mostly have Tezuka to thank for this. He's the one who makes us run laps. I never realized that there would be a day where I'd be thankful for the laps."

Gakuto looked back while he saw small figures chasing after them. They were in little red hoods and they were laughing like children. They stood in front of them; swaying left and right while they were laughing and giggling thinking that this was all a game. Somehow, to the regulars, they were wearing nothing but the cloak and they seemed pretty harmless. While they stood in front of them, nursery music began to play and their outlines became more and more defined. Gakuto didn't choose to stop; in fact, he ran as fast as his legs could carry him even if they felt like lead. However, what he didn't expect was that they would quickly catch up with him. Their speed was insane and Gakuto had to jump a few times to dodge their attempts to chew his leg."What are these things!?"

Oshitari wasn't having too much fun either; he wasn't as flexible as Gakuto but he certainly had more stamina than the acrobat. Before he could breeze past Fuji and Kikumaru who were already up ahead, something grabbed on to his leg and when he turned back, he noticed that it was the little child with the red hood and when a little light glinted his face, it was actually missing. Half of his face was blown off and the last thing seen was actually his skull. The kid sank his teeth into Oshitari's leg and more began to gang up on him. Desperately trying to kick them off, Oshitari felt his body grow numb and they held fast; they weren't letting go of his leg.

Seeing that they were the only ones free, Fuji told Kikumaru. "You save Gakuto, I'll get Oshitari."

Kikumaru was appalled by that. He was not one to save his rival. "Nyah~, demo...!"

Fuji didn't want to deal with rivalries. "Not now, Kikumaru! You can do it later!"

Kikumaru was quite surprised that Fuji used his last name because normally, Fuji would use his first name which was Eiji. So, darting with fast speed, he managed to grab Gakuto and Fuji managed to remove the things clinging on to Oshitari's leg. The man laughed at them while they made a break for it._ "Run, run, run as fast as you can! I can still catch you and tear you apart!"_

Gakuto looked at the walls which soon, hands began protruding out to either break free or to even grab them. "Where do we go now!? There's no door leading out of here!"

Kikumaru noticed a big brass door at the end of the hallway. "Hey, how about there?"

The man had noticed that Kikumaru had spotted the big brass door at the end of the hallway while he let out a howl._ "No! You will not enter that room!"_

He dissipated and when Kikumaru got there, the man appeared in front of him and this time, he was armed with a large scythe. Kikumaru began using his foot as a break but the man hurled the scythe quickly; ready to slice Seigaku's acrobat player in half. _"You're never going to escape, never!"_

Kikumaru closed his eyes to receive the impact however; he felt nothing when he found Gakuto grabbing his collar. "Don't get me wrong! I don't like saving you either but I have to repay the favor since you saved my ass!"

The two acrobats ducked and rolled while Fuji tried to reassess the situation. They were stuck in a place with no doors to hide in and they were being hounded. Oshitari stood back to back against Fuji. "Tell me, got any bright plans because as far as I'm concerned, I don't!"

However, luck seemed to side with Fuji when the brunette noticed a vase lying at the sidelines. There were flowers in it but they were dead and Fuji prayed. "Please let this have water. Please let this have water! I hope this works!"

Fuji grabbed the vase and hurled it with full force and to his luck, there was water inside and when the man got hit, he let out a howl of agony. The water made him dissipate once more and when his howl echoed in the hallway, that's when everything started falling out like dominos. The children that were chasing them also let out an incessant ringing in the air while many of the women that were crawling after them. Fog dissipated almost immediately and that left them to open the door. Kikumaru breathed out in relief. "Phew, now all that's left is to open the door."

Despite pulling the door with all his might, Kikumaru couldn't even get the door to budge. Gakuto huffed at his attempt. "That is just to show how weak you are."

Kikumaru retorted. "I'd like to see you try!"

Gakuto smirked. "Alright," –stretching his fingers, "stand back!"

The magenta haired acrobat tried yanking the door but it wouldn't budge either. Gakuto tugged in all different directions but the door didn't give any way. In frustration, Gakuto took a few steps back and prepared to do a flying kick. "Stupid," –Gakuto charged towards the door but before he could land his kick, the door opened by itself, "do---Aaaah!"

The door opened and left the acrobat to roll on the floor and crash into dusty objects. Fuji looked through the stuff and smiled. "Looks like we can start looking here."

They all entered and began digging through the stuff. Kikumaru picked up a notebook. "What's in here?"

Oshitari snatched it from him and began skimming through the pages. "This… this is a record when he killed all his victims but, the handwriting's different from one another."

Fuji took a look at it and shook his head in disgust. "That was the worst thing I've ever seen. To think I'm a sadist."

The blue haired kansai prodigy smirked while skimming through the notebook until he heard Gakuto stuttering. "Yu-yu-yuushi?"

"Nice try, Gakuto," Oshitari replied nonchalantly, "you'll need to do more than that to make me scared."

He looked up at Gakuto who was shivering and as pale as a ghost while he pointed over his shoulder while his voice was barely a whisper. "Behind you…"

The bespectacled prodigy looked behind him and saw a woman draping her arms lovingly over him. Her eyes were seductive while she smiled. _"Hello, Yukihisa-sama…"_

Oshitari didn't want to show any emotion but now, he was completely afraid. Fuji tried to grab Oshitari but soon, he felt something grab him and slam him into the wall. There he saw women gripping his wrist tightly. Kikumaru quickly saw this and lunged forward. "Fujiko-chan!"

However, something had also pinned down Kikumaru. A woman who had the red head pinned on the wall smiled seductively at him. _"You look so beautiful, it's such a shame to see you waste away,"_ with this, she sealed her lips against his. Fuji saw it from afar and called out as he watched his acrobatic friend slump to the ground like a rag doll. "Eiji," but he grit his teeth in pain when he felt a sharp pain imbed itself in his hands and found nails drilled through his hand. Gakuto wasn't doing much better either; little babies started crawling up Gakuto and engulfing him. "Oi, Yuushi!"

No matter how many times they called out his name, Oshitari wouldn't budge. His feet were too frozen to move and his eyes dulled while the woman continued to linger around him while she was draping herself over him lovingly. Oshitari struggled but it was no use; his body was pinned. Kikumaru wasn't doing too much either; his body was slowly losing its energy and his eyes were dulling and losing their lustre while Fuji was being nailed against the wall. Gakuto kicked off whatever was grasping on to him but there was no use; his body was being completely pinned against the wall. The last thing they all remembered is being shut into an everlasting darkness.

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Momoshiro, Jirou, Kawamura, Shishido, Ohtori and Oishi were all out in the stairway while having Yuma as their guide. The capped Hyotei regular couldn't understand where they were anymore but he decided to give up trying to understand the house since it was so messed up. Ohtori gulped. "Shishido-senpai, are you sure there are no dogs?"

Shishido pat Ohtori on the back while smirking at him in an assuring way. "Don't worry. Last time there were dogs, that wasn't even a dog. It was some deranged human with a mental problem."

Oishi sighed. "Well, we're safe for now. I hope."

Yuma looked around and nodded. _"There's nothing here, as far as I'm concerned."_

Momoshiro quickly then began tapping Oishi. "Um, don't say so too soon."

Kawamura turned around. "Momo-chan, what's wrong?"

The floor began splintering once again but instead of having dogs chasing them this time, from the crevices of the floor, fire spouted out and sputtered angrily. The skies became blood red and the regulars wasted no time in running. Shishido grabbed Ohtori while Kawamura hauled Jirou over his back and Oishi grabbed Momoshiro while the floor began spouting towards them. From the flames, blackened hands began to reach out and climb out. The figures that came from the ground were no longer human but were actually more monster like. They had no human like features; they were vicious in pursuing because at first, the splintering was fast like a firecracker but then, for a second, it stopped. Oishi turned around to stop after he noticed this. "Guys, wait."

They looked back and noticed that the splintering had stopped but then, ten seconds later, flames blaze angrily and set the walls on fire. The splintered floor continued to crack and moans were heard from down below. They crawled and the silver haired kohai noticed that something was creeping up behind Shishido. It was gaining speed; fast. The thing was crawling on the wall like a spider and when it lunged against Shishido, Ohtori was fast enough to knock him out of the way. "Shishido-san!"

The smaller senpai got knocked down by Ohtori when he saw his doubles partner being dragged down. "Choutarou!"

Ohtori clung on to a small piece of wood and Shishido darted after him but he arrived too late, the fires consumed the wood that Ohtori was holding and the weight was too much for the kohai. Shishido lunged forward but he couldn't catch him on time. "OHTORI!"

The silver haired kohai was soon consumed by the flames and Shishido stayed there, paralysed until Momoshiro grabbed him. "Come on, we're out of here!"

It took time for Shishido to recuperate on what he had seen. They finally made a turn where the splintering wood and the flames didn't follow them while they had a moment to catch their breath. Tear streamed down Shishido's eyes. "No. No, why? Why wasn't I fast enough? I thought I perfected that speed! Why couldn't I catch up with him!?"

Oishi didn't know what to say to Shishido because he knew that he would've done the same if Kikumaru were the one there. Speaking of which, he was also quite worried about his doubles partner but not as much because Fuji was with him. Even though they were the dream pair, Oishi still feared for their safety. Well, he always did as the vice captain of Seigaku. Kikumaru was like a brother to him the same way Ohtori was like a little brother (well, he's not that small) to Shishido. Momoshiro then stood up and found a door. "Hey, Yuma, what's in here?"

When he turned around, he then saw the reason why the flames and cracking floor didn't follow them. Yuma had led it away but it was too late because Ohtori had fallen to his death. Kawamura took a look at the door while he shrugged. "I don't know, wanna check?"

Momoshiro opened the door and Oishi helped Shishido up while they opened the door. When they got inside, all they saw was a bird bath. Jirou stared in awe. "What's a bird bath doing in here?"

Shishido scowled. "Oh I don't know, maybe because they're so damn brainless that they don't know what a bird bath is for!"

Oishi stared in shock while he looked at the painting on the wall. "Hey guys, look who it is…"

A portrait and frame appeared on the wall and engraved on it was the name Ohtori Choutarou and under the name was a picture of Ohtori falling into a fiery death. Shishido slammed his fist on the wall, still filled with remorse about Ohtori's fall. "Damn, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Ohtori."

Then, all of a sudden, the bird bath began to bubble and Momoshiro noticed the place slowly get distorted. "Damn, we have to get out," –when he made his way to the door and opened it, his face met the wall because the hallway they went through was no longer there. Momoshiro turned around while he stared in shock. "Guys, we're trapped."

Kawamura looked into the bird bath and motioned. "Hey, look, it's Inui!"

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Inui, Kaidoh, Taki and Kabaji were being led by Yukihisa who was still in Kaidoh's body. _"You're probably wondering who I am, aren't you?"_

They all nodded and Kaidoh smiled. _"I am Kiritsuga Yukihisa. A pleasure to meet you all. Thank you for coming here."_

The bespectacled data man of Seigaku was wondering. "Sir, why did you choose someone who's…?"

Kaidoh [Yukihisa] smiled weakly as he cut off Inui. _"Who's spectrephobic? Well, honestly – he was the one with strongest spiritual energy. The more they have the easier."_

Taki nodded weakly and then, he saw a little boy glowering at him with this sickly glare. "Um, Yukihisa-san, what's or rather, who's…?"

Kaidoh looked behind Taki with shock and awe. _"Ryouji…? No wait, that isn't Ryouji…"_

The boy broke out violently while his bluish tinted skin revealed third degree burns while blood trickled down from his eyes. Kaidoh [Yukihisa] motioned. _"Run."_

The four broke into a fast sprint and the boy flew after them. They made turns as fast as they could until they could hold no more. They finally found a door which Taki had opened. "In here!"

They all moved in, hopefully losing their pursuer. Yukihisa then separated from Kaidoh's body. _"I'm sorry about that. My kids were never that violent. I guess this house was so messed up and that includes the family."_

Taki gave him an awkward stare. "Ya think? Kabaji, can you find the lights? It's kinda dark in here."

Kabaji replied with his usual statement as he opened the lights. Kaidoh stared in horror with what he saw when he saw women's bodies tied up. Some of them had stab marks, some died by methods of strangulation and they had their throats slit open. "What is this place," then the snake looked at Yukihisa as he found him crying at a body, "who's that and who are you?"

Yukihisa smiled weakly. _"I'm Kiritsuga Yukihisa and this body was body of my very first love. She was Sagaraki Hina, my very first wife."_

-That's chapter 5! I had to revamp Chapter 5 and 4 because I replaced it with the wrong data! Please review!


	6. Portraits of Blood

(I don't own Prince of Tennis!)

Chapter 6 – Portraits of Blood

_"She was my very first wife, Sagaraki Hina," _–Yukihisa mournfully replied while he cried in front of her body, _"I loved her so much."_

Kaidoh grumbled. "You loved her so much that when she died, you went insane?"

_"Oh no, of course not, well,"_ Yukihisa admitted mildly, _"I have to admit. I did a stupid thing in marrying my own daughter and forcing her to do things with me but, the other women, I'm afraid I cannot take account for them. Most of these women were not my mistresses at all."_

Haginosuke's eyes widened. "So who were they?"

Yukihisa touched one body. _"This one is my sister, Kiritsuga Shina. She was very loving and kind, the eldest daughter in the family. She looked so much like my mother and even acted like one. She took care of us constantly. Though, she did have a temper."_

Inui looked at the other bodies until he felt something holding his foot. "Kabaji, are you stepping on my foot?"

The taller kohai shook his head and when Inui looked down, he saw something climbing unto him and it was a bluish hand. His eyes widened with horror as he felt his feet sinking through the floor. Struggling, Inui felt like he was being dragged in as if the place was completely made of quicksand. Kaidoh turned around. "Inui-senpai, watch out!"

Then, suddenly, Kaidoh felt that his body froze and he couldn't feel his limbs. His body dropped like a rag doll on the floor while his mind was completely conscious. Haginosuke felt like knives struck through his kneecap and when he looked at his legs, he realized that they weren't there anymore. Kabaji was held down on the floor while Inui saw hands digging into his clothes. Nails carved themselves deep into his leg and the corpses on the wall, slowly began moving. Their entrails dropped on the floor and were being dragged all over the place.

Kaidoh tried to wriggle like a worm only to nearly grab Inui's fingers but, Seigaku's data man vanished. Yukihisa stared in horror. _"I didn't know that this house became alive."_

Haginosuke gulped. "What's with the room?"

Yukihisa slowly began vanishing while the whole room started getting all distorted, _"Solve the mystery as soon as you can. Knowing my family, they won't let you guys out until they get their revenge."_

Haginosuke felt like he was being dragged down when he saw corpses piling on top of his body. Kabaji was faring so well either; every time he kicked one away, it came after him again except double the number. Kaidoh desperately searched for a door. "There's no door around here!"

Blood spilled from the walls and the writings made them clear. _"Goodbye, Seigaku Regulars, Hyotei Regulars, it was nice knowing you all."_

After that, the only thing people couldn't hear was the terrified screams of the four Regulars that were trapped in a closet.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Drip.

Drip.

The silver haired kohai slowly opened his eyes and found himself in a well. His body shivered as the cold wind licked against his skin. "Where am I?"

The water was dark red and no one needed to tell Ohtori what that water was made off. Suddenly, he felt something grab his ankle and because he was in a deep well, it was hard for him to move inside. "Wha--!"

When he lifted his foot, there was a body floating. In the well, that's where he saw skeletons and aborted babies surrounding him. The blood coated his clothes in burgundy and he felt something gnaw at his leg. Throwing it off, Ohtori made his way up the well. Clambering as fast as he could, the babies continued to grab unto him until he hit a lose block that fell and hit them. Ohtori had only one thing running through his mind. "Help. Help. Get me out of here! I need to find the others!"

When he got to the top, that's when the well was now blazing with fire. Moans were heard from below and more things began crawling up the wall. Ohtori finally got out and when he began running, more of them started chasing him. Looking around, he couldn't find anything that could shut the well. So, upon instinct, he just started running as fast as he could. Ohtori couldn't help but wonder. "Where are the others? Shishido-senpai, Oishi-san and Momo-san, they're all still inside."

Rain poured on them and the babies were screeching in pain as if they were being melted by acid. Covering his ears, Ohtori decided to try and find Shishido and the others before anything worse happened. When he got to the door, vines with thorns began to appear and ensnare Ohtori. The vines were black as if they've been grilled and the feeling in the air became more ominous. The vines began crushing Ohtori's legs and the silver haired kohai was slowly getting strangled. He kicked furiously against the vines which every time it was torn off, new ones would grow in place.

"Tch, you're so misplaced," a voice said as the figure snapped his fingers.

The thorns shrank back shyly and dumped Ohtori on his butt. The silver haired kohai looked up. "Thank you but…"

When he looked up, the man wasn't dead; he was alive and well. He extended his hand to the kohai. "You shouldn't be here. This house is rumoured to be haunted. You look you're not even old enough to go alone. Who else is with you?"

Ohtori was still shivering from what he went through. "Um, m-m-my friends…"

The man nodded when he turned around, an evil smile made on his face. "So, there are more of you here. Interesting, Yukihisa, what exactly do you have planned for them?"

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The tensai woke up and found himself immobile and in another room. He felt like he was pinned to something still; he checked his hand, the blade was no longer there but the holes were still evident. Fuji grasped his hand while wincing lightly; the pain was pretty inevitable for it to go through his hand. When he tried to look around, his field of vision was limited; he couldn't see anything until he saw that his hands were suddenly tied together and he was hanging. Fuji now feeling a little scared started searching around that is – until he felt something sharp smash on his back.

Fuji cringed at the pain when he felt something oozing down his back. Another blow came again except this time, he felt like his flesh's being ripped off. Gritting his teeth in pain, Fuji felt his chin had been grabbed by someone. _"So, it's you…Lutana…"_

_"Lutana,"_ thought Fuji, _"must be one of the girls in the house."_

Her grip tightened on Fuji's jaw. _"You shouldn't be here! Yukihisa-sama married me! Nobody else! There was that Hina woman but she's dead! There's no hope for you here! You have nothing to return to here!"_

Fuji looked up with his bright blue eyes. "I came here to solve something or rather – we," he managed to say.

"There is nothing," she shrieked while delivering a sharp blow to Fuji's back. The tensai once again winced in pain when the blows came repeatedly. Fuji simply grits his teeth though he had second options about screaming in pain because hell, it hurt. Before he knew it, the next blow was at his face and crimson liquid trickled down his face. His vision grew blurry and he managed to make out what she was holding: wasn't those one of the whips that they used back in ancient times?

He was once again cut from his thoughts when it cracked on his back again. Unlike the first time, this one dragged itself on his back driving a deep gash. When he managed to see, in her hand was a morning star [1]. Fuji shook his head to wake up and when he opened his eyes a little wider, he saw the morning star right in front of him. His blood was all over it and she grinned maliciously at this. _"Now, because you were so proud of your arms…!"_

Taking them into her hands, she pulled his arms out of their sockets while she kicked Fuji's sore back. The tensai let out a small sound and when she heard that, her face contorted with maliciousness. Picking up something green (Fuji's eyesight got bad after that hit remember?), the woman bashed it on his back once again. He knew it wasn't just anything because he felt the glass stick into back. _"Scream, scream, scream for help you little whore!"_

Fuji couldn't keep his composure however; he knew that there had to be a way out of here. The pain seemed so real and he couldn't do anything. His arms felt like they were completely dislodged while the whippings and the continuous beating grew more intense. The next thing he knew it, he was hit by icy cold water. He felt the ice cubes scratch his back even deeper and she splashed it harder on his back. Fuji kept withstanding the pain until it suddenly stopped. His body shivered while the iciness of the water licked him and then, hot oil was thrown on his back. Now this one he couldn't help it anymore, he let out a loud yelp while the woman pounded nails into his hands. _"Yes, scream some more!"_

The torment continued; she picked up a knife and soon, Fuji let out real screams of agony as she took off his fingers, with a flaming knife and slowly while doing it one by one. She took pleasure in digging them into his skin and the heat seared him badly. He felt his body writhe in agony while she started going to his legs and repeating the process again. However, instead of cutting off his toes, she drove in wooden stakes and rusty knives into his legs. _"If you don't die of bleeding,"_ –she sniggered,_ "you'll at least die of infection!"_

Fuji's blue eyes began to dull when he saw what was happening to him. His senses were beginning to shut down and he couldn't feel anything around him anymore. The only thing left that he could do was listen to the sounds. When he closed his eyes, he heard no sound no nothing. "This must be it, I won't be able to go home alive," thought Fuji.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Meanwhile, Momoshiro, Oishi, Shishido, Kawamura and Jirou stared in horror at the next four pictures that began to fill up. One picture was Inui who looked like he was slowly sinking into a hole with bloodied hands pulling him down. Kaidoh was being stretched apart by people left and right, Haginosuke was tied to a log and was going down a plume where a huge chain saw was ready to saw him in half. Kabaji was forced on the floor with a woman standing on his back who had sharp boots with some others wearing stilettos.

Momoshiro nearly puked. "Mamushi…"

Jirou whimpered at the sight. "Kabaji… Taki…"

Kawamura couldn't bear to look. "Inui, Kaidoh…"

Oishi looked down bitterly. "I knew this house was dangerous. First Ohtori, now these guys too… it's no use. We can't head back."

"Hey Oishi," Shishido grabbed his collar, "stop moping like some sour fool! We're going to get out of here! Sure it's supernatural but hell, looks like we're going have to come up with some supernatural whack job stuff too! That bird bath showed people who were about to appear on the portrait, maybe when they appear, we can somehow reach them and find our way out!"

The bird bath once again bubbled and they rushed towards it. Jirou yelped. "Look, it's a coffin!"

It was rattling and they heard a loud cat like yelp. It didn't take an idiot to know who was in there. Oishi felt his body tense at the scream. "Eiji!"

They saw the ground had been dug open while the coffin shook violently. The person carrying it however noticed that and laid it on the ground. Oishi let out a breath of relief. Maybe he's going to change his mind. His happy thoughts however were soon contradicted by the fact that now, the man held a huge sledge hammer in his hand with a maniacal grin. Oishi's blood boiled violently as he saw his doubles partner about to get smashed into pieces. He remembered synchronization that he and Eiji had mastered during the Nationals but, could it reach that far? Closing his eyes, Oishi felt hot salty water drip from his face. "Eiji…!"

Suddenly, he felt his mind dim and the coffin stopped shaking. "Oishi, you called, nyah~?"

Opening his eyes, Kikumaru was standing in front of him in a pitch black room. "Eiji, what happened?"

Kikumaru sadly looked down. "Someone… killed me…"

"What!? But," Oishi was rattled by the news, "Eiji, you're still here and talking to me! That can't be!"

Kikumaru extended his hand. "Feel it."

Oishi felt his hand nervously and to his horror, it was cold like ice. Kikumaru's violet eyes looked down sadly. "I'm sorry I couldn't reach the bigger tournaments with you, Oishi. You were like a brother to me, Oishi. I'm sorry."

First Shishido lost Ohtori, now the pain Shishido felt now bit into Oishi. "You're lying," he screamed in total denial, "you can't be dead! You were fine when we came! Eiji, please tell me this isn't true."

The red head's smile became bitter. "I'm sorry, Oishi. But it is…"

The black haired fuku buchou fell to his knees and tears covered his face when Kikumaru slowly vanished. "I'm sorry, Oishi…"

"EIJI!"

Oishi was thrown back and Kawamura caught a tear stained Oishi. "Hey, Oishi, what happened? Hey, say something!"

Oishi was speechless; he couldn't believe what he saw. Kikumaru looked so bitter and sad; everyone knew that a bitter Kikumaru was a sick one. When they looked on the wall, the portrait now revealed on the wall very vaguely until it became very clear. Kikumaru was struggling in a dark place; trying to break his way through. Oishi dropped to his knees. "Eiji…!"

Shishido didn't know what to say; they just lost six people. Momoshiro gaped in horror as the next painting revealed itself. "Minna, we lost another one…"

They looked at the painting and there they now saw Fuji, being beaten with a morning star while someone stepped on his back with high heeled stilettos. Jirou soon panicked. "Let's get out of here! I can't take this anymore!"

Oishi shivered at what he saw; four of the Seigaku Regulars were gone and same with Hyotei. He looked at the portraits and the only ones that were not filled were his, Momoshiro's, Shishido's, Taki's, Kawamura's, Akutagawa's, Atobe's, Oshitari's, Echizen's, Hiyoshi's, Tezuka's and Mukahi's. Realization hit him like a lightning bolt: they were the last. Solve the mystery now or die. That was their only chance. "Shishido," Oishi's voice became firm, "let's try your idea."

Shishido gave him a look of shock. "You serious???"

"Yeah," Oishi's green eyes glistened with determination, "we have to save the others, no matter what. For their sake…"

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On the other hand, the group that remained intact were still roaming at the basement of the mansion. Echizen looked at the little girl following Tezuka with an innocent smile on her face. He expected that something would come and chase them now but he noticed that nothing had hounded them ever since. The girl skipped happily next to Tezuka and Atobe stared at her aghast. "Dear kami-sama, what is that bright light skipping next to you!?"

Apparently, to Atobe, the girl seemed to be a bright light with no details. "She's a little girl," replied Tezuka.

"Yeah," Echizen smirked, "you probably can't see her because you're blind, monkey king."

"Che," snorted Atobe, "if I were blind I would have bumped into a wall!"

While walking a dead body fell in front of them with his mouth contorted and his body nearly singed, they all jumped back waiting for it to move but it never did. When they moved closer to it, Atobe knew too well who this was. "Uncle…?"

Hiyoshi's eyes widened. "You know him!?"

Atobe looked at him and there was no mistake; it was his uncle and now, he lay dead at his nephew's feet. In his hands, there was something written on it. "My dearest nephew Keigo, I hope you find this letter…"

Atobe was appalled. "How did he know…?"

Tezuka took a look at it while reading. "I'm here in this house because of a political war. I know you have heard of Kiritsuga Yukihisa but he's not as bad as everyone projects. He's a kind man and I'm one of his trusted accomplices. He has never taken a life and neither have I. Keigo, if you do happen to find the letter, please do not breathe a word what is written here to anyone."

Atobe looked at them and looked at the letter again while Echizen continued reading. "The Kiritsuga family is a family that had helped the Atobe Group reach the top. They are very wealthy and also very politically inclined. They are very smart people and they have never let anyone down. They are strong willed people but alas, there is something very dark about this family. The grandfather is quite the lunatic I say, he has raped his own mother and sisters to extend his family. He had taken young girls as young as ten years old and made them his bride. The fact is – it won't be easy in tracking the bad seed of the family. Yukihisa was one of the sane ones which is why Atobe Group is where it is now. The Kiritsuga family has many extensions such as the Sagaraki Family, the Kujaka family and many more. Yukihisa has at least eleven siblings because he has five mothers. The women you might have seen here are mistresses of the father of Yukihisa. He…"

"What," Atobe snapped, "why did you stop reading?"

Hiyoshi tapped his shoulder and the buchou of Hyotei saw a man with a scythe hanging in front of him. "So this must be Atobe Keigo, isn't it?"

Horrified that it knew his name, Atobe shoved the letter in his pocket and grabbed Hiyoshi. "Tezuka, grab the brat!"

Tezuka wasted no time as the scythe tore the ground. They ran and ducked while the scythe ripped through the candle holders. Tezuka took off his jacket. "I have an idea."

He threw his jacket on a coat rack that happened to be there and be his height for some stupid reason. Finally, they found a door and closed it behind them. The scythe came down and realizing it wasn't really Tezuka, he let out a loud howl and a bright light consumed him.

From outside, Atobe looked at the floor. "What the hell was that light?"

Tezuka shrugged until he felt something tug on his jersey. It was that same little girl who had an innocent smile. _"You're so smart, nii-san."_

In her hands was Tezuka's jacket, it wasn't touched and it looked like it was new from the dry cleaners. Atobe looked at Tezuka with a scared look. "What the hell!? Wasn't that burgundy a few minutes ago!?"

She smiled while tugging on his arm. _"Mayumi-chan fixed it for nii-san! Come on, we have to help your friends!"_

Echizen was astounded by her desire to help them. "Why are you helping us?"

At this, her smile suddenly faded._ "Because, you're the only ones who can…"_

Hiyoshi saw the floor crawling with black shadows and the wooden floor boards creaking. "Guys, please move your asses because there's something coming at us!"

From black shadows, they formed into very hungry dogs with red eyes glistening with hunger. Atobe made a mad dash for it along with Hiyoshi, Echizen and Tezuka. The girl however didn't move from her spot and she smiled innocently at Tezuka. _"Nii-san, I'm counting on you. You and your friends can help us move on. We want to go home. Please?"_

Tezuka nodded. "I will."

"I will hold them away," she said while the dogs lunged at her while she continued to plead, _"Please go, nii-san!"_

Atobe grabbed Tezuka and made a run for it. The bespectacled captain couldn't believe that he was leaving an innocent girl to die. Blood trailed on the floor and the room darkened almost immediately. Hiyoshi was on the verge of tears. "Damn! Why are we even in here!?"

Tezuka didn't bother looking back while remorse built up inside him. The poor girl died (though technically she was dead) for their sake to move on. This was bad and they didn't even know where the others were. They all kept running until they slammed into someone. Atobe got ready to punch the guy. "Damn you, who the hell are you!? How dare you bump into ore-sama!?"

"Aaaah, don't kill me, Atobe-san!" Cried a very familiar voice.

They looked on the floor and there sat a very scared Ohtori. Atobe's face changed. "Ohtori, what the hell are you doing on the damn floor? Come on, weren't you with Shishido, Momoshiro and Oishi?"

"I was," Ohtori nodded, "but then, something dragged me down and next thing you know, I end up in a well - --!"

His sentence stopped when he pointed something behind Tezuka. "B-be-behind you, Tezuka-san."

The bespectacled teen gave him an awkward stare until Atobe began freaking out as well. "Tezuka…"

"What?" Tezuka said when he felt something cold touch his face and a laugh that was getting maniacal. A hand pinned Tezuka's arm behind him but unfortunately for the thing that had pinned him, Tezuka was fast enough to react and get loose once again and he threw it on the ground. However, when he tried grabbing it, the arm dissipated into fog and held him fast. "You're not getting away; you figured out the mystery didn't you, Te-zu-chan?" – his voice being very mocking, "I know you're not that stupid and you're the grandson of that other guy…Figures, must run in the blood to be a dog of the government."

Tezuka knew he was spitefully speaking about his grandfather but he chose not to say anything as the grip tightened on his arm. Hiyoshi looked for the hilt he once held on but he found out it wasn't there. "Looking for this, boy?" a voice maliciously added.

They looked up and the shadow had it and he shoved it into Tezuka's injured shoulder. The bespectacled teen grit his teeth in pain when the shadow shoved him forward having Atobe catch him while he kicked Echizen against the wall while they heard Echizen's knee make a sickening crack. Hiyoshi was pinned on the floor while the shadow's foot had it crushing Hiyoshi's right shoulder. The man had a sickening laugh that echoed in the air. He got closer to Echizen while bearing his fangs. Atobe and Tezuka, prioritizing the safety of their teammates first, lunged forward to grab them both out. However, their efforts were in vain when they crashed through the wall. Ohtori gulped. "Who are you?"

When the man stepped out, thunder crackled while its sinister smile made itself evident and revealed itself. _"I'm you, Ohtori. Ohtori Choutarou."_

The younger kohai couldn't believe what he was seeing. He wanted to cry until the shadow yelled. "Go on, say it! Say it!"

Ohtori couldn't resist. "You're not me! I would never do that to other people!"

He looked at a paralysed Echizen who was struggling furiously while Hiyoshi tried to lift the foot. Atobe had tried to getting Hiyoshi out only to have his hand getting crushed along with Tezuka getting strangled against the wall. Ohtori shuddered while the shadow smiled and leaned towards Echizen. _"He's quite a prize. Such amazing golden eyes, I love making strong willed people scream for their lives…!"_

He pressed his lips on Echizen whose body slowly went limp. Ohtori stared in horror, Atobe's mouth ran dry and Tezuka's eyes widened. When he parted from the tennis prodigy, blood was smeared all over the boy's lips as he slammed Echizen's body on the ground. A shrill laughter filled the air while he sneered. _"He tasted so delicious,"_ –looking at Hiyoshi under his foot, "but I bet this one will taste even better…!"

Ohtori whimpered. "No…! Stop!"

The shadow laughed maniacally. "Yes, keep denying Ohtori! Keep denying! Say that I am not you! Come on!"

Atobe tried to pull his hand out under the shadow's shoe. "Ohtori, you have to admit it! Face your fear! We all hate facing our true selves and I know for a fact that you hate ghosts and most especially the ones that have your face but hell, pull yourself together!"

A trail of blood appeared behind Ohtori while babies crying filled the hallway. Some voices were even screaming. _"Ohtori!"_

The silver haired kohai was at a loss at what to do. "No, no!"

He fell to his knees and let out a shrill cry. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

-That's chapter 6! Please review!

[1] Morning star - spiked balls at the top of maces except connected with a chain


	7. Innocent

(I don't own Prince of Tennis!)

Chapter 7 – Innocent

"_Come on, Ohtori! Scream," _the shadow mocked, _"scream louder!"_

The silver haired kohai was on his knees while trying to block out the sounds. Atobe was right; he was scared of ghosts and this wasn't helping him. He stared at the mocking shadow of himself in front of him who had pinned four of the regulars without breaking much of a sweat. His entire body shivered as the maniacal laugh made his hair stand on its ends while sweat poured down the poor kohai's face. He watched Echizen's body slowly go limp while Atobe was struggling to pull out his hand. The other two weren't doing so well either; considering the fact that Tezuka was losing air and Hiyoshi was on the floor getting his shoulder busted. He couldn't take this anymore and the best thing to do right now, was for him to fight back. "I have to admit, all my anger goes somewhere…"

The shadow stopped and stared at Ohtori for a moment who finally found the energy to stand erect and firm. "But, I've learned how not to release my anger on innocent people! All the pain I feel goes somewhere else in a different manner! I don't let other people suffer for it!"

The shadow stared aghast at Ohtori as he saw his figure now vanishing. Tezuka was let go with Echizen, Atobe and Hiyoshi were able to stand up as he took steps back in horror. _"How? You're scared of me! You're scared of ghosts!"_

Ohtori nodded while admitting mildly. "I have to admit; I am afraid of ghosts but not ghosts of myself!"

In total defeat and horror, the shadow fled in terror while howling in the hallway. Ohtori felt his knees suddenly weaken while tears slipped from his eyes. Atobe fixed his fingers while moving towards the kohai with a smirk. "Ore-sama's impressed, Ohtori. You conquered your fear and you managed to keep yourself from fainting. Quite a feat there – Ohtori."

The silver kohai looked down mumbling. "That was a close call," he looked up again at Atobe, "Atobe-san, have you seen Shishido-san and the others?"

Atobe gave him a weird look. "I thought they were with you."

A loud yell came from another end of the hallway. However, at that end, it was dark to the point you couldn't see but what made their hair stand on its ends was the fact that the scream seemed very familiar. Very familiar voice to the Seigaku Regulars and Echizen and Tezuka exchanged looks with each other. "Kikumaru!"

The foue (excluding Echizen because his leg was in bad shape) ran through the hallway while they heard something banging on the wall. Echizen managed to limp his way towards them while gritting his teeth in pain while he turned around. "Where's that loud knocking coming from?"

The banging got louder and louder while they heard desperate cries for help. Hiyoshi leaned on the wall. "It's coming from here."

When he leaned against the wall however, hands extended from the walls and grabbed on to Hiyoshi. Ohtori grabbed Hiyoshi while pulling hard as he could. "Hiyoshi! Careful!"

The Hyotei ace was being dragged in until Ohtori managed to pull out Hiyoshi but not without falling backwards on Atobe and tumbling out of the wall came Kikumaru who landed on Echizen who was behind Tezuka for that matter. The red head looked up. "Hoi, nyah~? Ah! Ochibi," without a second thought, Kikumaru glomped the smaller boy who stumbled back due to his busted knee and ended up sitting on top of Tezuka who managed to hold the railing and not topple over.

"Senpai, that hurts," muttered Ryoma while trying to get up.

"Kikumaru," an icy voice interrupted from below.

The red head saw his captain on the floor with his glasses messed up. "Ah! Sorry, buchou!"

Grabbing Echizen, Kikumaru also helped his captain up while exchanging glances with them. "Where are you guys going? Have you seen Oishi, Fujiko-chan and the others yet? All I remember is blacking out and finding myself in a place so creepy and dark nyah~."

They looked at each other in bewilderment. How is it possible that they end up in different places and even the most unexpected of places? Like Atobe and Tezuka, they rolled out of a cabinet, Shishido, Momoshiro, Oishi and Ohtori came out of a piano, Echizen came out of a mirror, Kikumaru just came out of the wall. Fuji and Oshitari came from a mirror as well. Kawamura and Jirou didn't really have one while the others didn't have much either. "The thing is – we have to find the murder weapon because that's the only thing that will," Atobe added while pulling out the blade from Tezuka's shoulder which he earned a glare from the Seigaku captain, "get us out of here. We can get a finger print sample after that."

Hiyoshi looked at the blade. "This one seems to be it because: why else would it be in a guy's gut?"

"Some moron must've wanted him to swallow it so that there wouldn't be any traces," Echizen muttered mutely.

Tezuka looked at it. "It was the murder weapon and we have our finger prints all over it."

Kikumaru looked at Tezuka with shock. "Eh??? How can you say that buchou? I mean – we don't even know who it was used on!"

"It's quite simple," Tezuka stated calmly, "why would it be in a carcass? Secondly, after taking a look at many of the victims, most of them were cut open. Even a scalpel won't cut that deep and the only thing that could cut them that deep would either be a sword or a very sharp knife. So – most likely, the victims died by this knife. Question is: how many?"

They all stopped for a moment at what he had asked while Atobe also wondered. "Say, does anyone know why this house keeps throwing us all over the place? I mean – first, we were in the kitchen and when we bust through a door, Tezuka and I rolled out of the cabinet. I know we're trying to find the killer but maybe we can use our unexpected place transferring to our advantage."

Ohtori grimaced. "But how? I don't think falling in a pit of fire leads to a bloody well with corpses in it."

Hiyoshi looked at the blade that Atobe was holding until he felt his body tense up with fear. His body shivered while something cold had dropped unto his shoulder. He was too frightened to look and finally mustering enough to courage to look behind him, he saw a book falling into his hands at a certain page. On it, writing began to appear. _"Go to the living room…"_

Hiyoshi's hands became wet with fear while his body trembled when the ink on the book was not black but red; red as blood. Then, the one used as a writing instrument was a nail. In front of Hiyoshi was a woman whose body was soaked in blood with her deep lifeless black pools staring at him. Her hands had holes in them while some of her fingers and bones were so badly deformed that it was hard to believe that she even managed to stay in front of him let alone stare and stand. Her body moved towards his and whispered icily. _"Go to the living room…"_

Her cold breath licked against his skin while she vanished into the deep darkness. Atobe saw Hiyoshi shivering like mad. "I don't remember you getting wet, Hiyoshi. What the hell are you shivering," –snatching the book, "for?" His eyes widened when the blood writing was all over the book.

Echizen didn't seem to bother that it was written by something else. "Looks like our answers are in the living room."

Ohtori gaped in awe at Seigaku's freshman ace, how is it that he managed to keep his cool despite the state they were in. The house was dark with burned marks and later, they noticed that now Echizen's cap was turning red. Atobe cringed at Echizen's non reaction to what was happening to him. "Do you mind checking your cap? You're going to notice that it's now a different colour."

Echizen didn't look up until later. A huge blob dropped on his face and it rolled down to Tezuka's feet. When the bespectacled captain took a look at the thing that rolled on the floor, it wasn't stone but something else. It was too squishy to be anything else but when Hiyoshi looked at it, he felt his whole stomach lurch with disgust. "It's… a tonsil…"

Tezuka looked up and there was a body hanging on top. It was stuck to the ceiling and her blood dripped unto the floor like water and some even speckled itself on Atobe's face. Ohtori gulped when her mouth was gaping open while her hands dangled limply from the ceiling. "Um, Atobe-san," –he asked while tapping on Atobe's shoulder, "Since when did bodies pin themselves to the top of the roof!?"

The Hyotei captain stared in awe at what was hanging above them. Hiyoshi felt his body numb at the disgusting sight while Echizen could almost feel himself to be vomiting. Ohtori couldn't stop trembling while they soon found themselves in a different hallway: a hallway full of mirrors. Tezuka looked around and he already felt something moving towards them. "Everyone don't get careless."

They were stunned at where they were because they were trapped in a mirrored room. They stood back to back behind each other and there were bright flashes of light. Atobe looked around. "Hey, what's going…?"

When he turned around, all his group mates; missing. The king of Hyotei frantically began looking around but saw nothing. The silence was deafening to the point that Atobe could hear his own heart pounding in his ears. The mirror flashed a picture in front of him. There he didn't see himself anymore but someone he knew very well. "Mother…?"

Her smile became bitter when the mirror suddenly began cracking and crashing on the floor. Glass shattered at his face but the icy eyed teen managed to block his face from getting shards. The glass shards snagged themselves on his pants and drove in deep gashes. The king grit his teeth in pain as another flash lit up the place and this time, there were hooded characters that took the place of Atobe's reflection. His arrogance however masked his fear very well because he showed no desire to back down or whatsoever. "Is that it…?"

But truth be told, that was only the beginning for Atobe because soon, the room was filling with blood. Moans and groans echoed from the sides of the wall and writings began to appear on the mirror. _"You won't be any use if your insight and you are missing now, wouldn't you, Atobe Keigo-san?"_

Atobe tried to look for a way out but there was nothing. He was like a trapped bird in a cage and then, he felt something pinning him to the ground. Whatever that thing was, it grasped on his throat tightly while drowning him in a sea of blood. However, Atobe managed to kick whatever it was and when he managed to grab some air, there was nothing there. He looked again trying to dry his hair from the blood it just soaked up until he felt some unknown force throw him through the mirrors; resulting into several mirrors being broken and the blood flowing out. Coughing violently, Atobe clambered up to his feet. "Where are you?"

"_I'm right here, Keigo-bochama," _purred a very seductive voice.

His blood ran cold when he saw a woman in a geisha outfit walk towards him. Her eyes were beautiful but her body betrayed her; it was loaded with scars and some parts, the skin was torn off and he could see her rib cage and her lungs deflating and inflating from breathing. Blood trailed from her body while even some of her muscular tissues were still moving. Despite gaining enough oxygen for his mind, Atobe felt his mind get very heavy and he couldn't keep still. She walked towards him and he seemed to take a step back every time she got closer. Finally, he fell on a chair that was behind him and he felt his body get trapped on the chair. His once arrogant icy eyes slowly lost their lustre and he just slumped on to the chair while her hand gently caressed his face. _"You're quite the man, Keigo-san."_

Atobe's mind screamed to protest but his body wouldn't obey. For the first time, the king felt true despair running through his body. His nerves were dead and she sat on his lap seductively. _"Keigo, kiss me…"_

Atobe struggled but he felt a wave of helplessness wash over him no matter what happened. The moment she got closer, he managed to get a glimpse of her skull while his body felt his life ebbing away. Suddenly, he felt something pierce his neck while he winced. It wasn't a knife but her bones had found their way into the nape of his neck. His vision was getting ugly and black and all he could see left which was also the last thing he saw was the woman's haughty smile until slowly and finally, his movements were completely limp and soon, they completely stopped. The last thing he had left – was his hearing.

"…tobe…"

Atobe smirked inwardly to himself. "No one can save me now…"

"A…be…"

The king of Hyotei wouldn't necessarily give up but like he had much of a choice. "What? Ore-sama's hallucinating before he dies? Fantastic."

"Ato…e"

This time he was sure he heard his name however, Atobe couldn't get any of his limbs or any part of his body to respond. "This is just great. What a way to die. You die in a house that you were chased to and yet, you can't even get out."

"Oi, get up, monkey king."

Now that one came loud and clear and it didn't take Atobe long to discern who that was. "It's the Seigaku brat again. Wonder what he wants."

"Atobe."

Atobe's body tensed at the voices. First, he heard Echizen and now he heard a stoic voice, he was definitely sure that was Tezuka. He struggled to release himself but unfortunately, the stupor was too much even for him. His eyes refused to let in any light and soon, he actually considered giving up. The Hyotei king sighed inwardly. "Ore-sama's gotten himself in a deep ditch now… In a ditch that even ore-sama can't dig himself out off."

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Oshitari on the other hand wasn't doing a great job either. He found himself pinned to a bed and scarfs held his hands and legs firmly in place. The kansai prodigy quickly began analysing his surroundings; it was one of the bedrooms that he had seen the other time except this one was perfectly clean. In fact, there were lit candles and the scent of roses and flowers wafted into the air. The room had a sensual feel to it; Oshitari was thinking of the worst possible scenarios: it was either he was going to see a rape live and in the front seat, this bed will now become the surgical table and a dinner table (after he saw the formers diving into the bowels of the victims) or, he was chained here and he was going to get beaten with anything sharp or bone shattering.

Unfortunately, there was one left that he had forgotten to consider: he himself was going to become the rape victim. _"Yuushi-kun, you're very handsome for a prodigy…"_

Oshitari looked at the side and saw a woman in a fuchsia pink silk bathrobe. Her blonde hair flowed neatly past her shoulders and her blue eyes reflected a strong will and also a very fiery resolve. The one thing however that scared him was the fact that she had scars all over her abdomen. _"Oh," _­she seemed to notice that he saw some parts of her abdomen due to her very revealing bathrobe _"don't worry. It's just a little liposuction. I'm glad I had it though, I never knew I would catch a beautiful prey such as you in my room."_

"This was her room," Oshitari thought, "that explains the moans I heard when I was going with Fuji."

"You seem to be enjoying yourself, Ciela," drawled a voice.

Oshitari then realized that his glasses were far away and because he wore them a lot, his eye sight weakened so, it was so badly blurred but that didn't mean his ears weren't working anymore. This one sounded more human than ghastly and it was a man's voice that had echoed in his ears. "So, there were more of you…"

Oshitari felt the need to yell but much to his horror, he couldn't. He felt the woman crawl up to the bed and he felt something brush against his face. It wasn't a hand that was sure and when he squinted ever so slightly, he saw bones instead of skin. Her foot caressed his face. _"It's such a waste to make you join us. You beautiful creature…"_

Oshitari didn't know what so say but even if he did try, his mouth ran dry and he could feel his body tingling in terror. He struggled but he felt a bolt of electricity shoot through him like a knife. He cringed at the pain when he heard the evil laughter ringing in his ears. "Yukihisa always had everything. It wasn't fair so, I think it's about time he had an equal share of my pain!"

Electricity ran through Oshitari's veins over and over again until the kansai's body was rendered numb and useless. His hearing was slowly getting bad but he didn't need it anymore because he felt a cold icy breath licking his chest with a hand moving onto his cheek. He didn't need to be a genius to figure out what was going on. He tried lifting his legs but no avail, his body and he was at the complete mercy of something he didn't know how to deal with. He closed his eyes. "Think, Oshitari. You're completely bound and you have no way out so which means you have to make one. Problem is – how do you do that when you're at the complete mercy of someone you can't see?"

He tried kicking violently but it didn't do him any good. He tried moving his arms but it wasn't doing anything. He wasn't completely deaf but then, he did hear something being drawn out of a sword or knife guard. He gulped; he couldn't feel anything but he knew something bad was going to happen. Though he was numb, his sense of touch wasn't completely gone. He felt something warm trickle down his neck and it was too thick to be sweat. Then, he felt something cold press against his arm. "Yuushi must be your name. How you managed to get in here is none of my concern but as I said, you're not getting out alive. You won't live to tell the tale."

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Meanwhile, Shishido, Oishi, Momoshiro, Kawamura and Jirou managed to get out. They were in another room that looked liked they were in another part of the house. Kawamura then noticed writings on the wall. "Wait, what is this?"

Momoshiro squinted while trying to decipher. "I have no idea. The writing's so freakin' messed up, it's hard for me to see."

Shishido searched for a magnifying glass but there was nothing. The capped Hyotei student moved closer. "It says here "Branches of the Kiritsuga Family". Why is that here if we're in the house of the Sagaraki's? This is just so messed up."

Oishi's mouth opened ajar. "It's because the Sagaraki family is just the extension of the Kiritsuga family."

They looked at the wall and discovered that they were only looking at one eighth of the wall. The family tree extended all the way to the roof. Some of the pictures were still intact while some remained burnt out. Jirou who was completely awake for the time being began looking at all the names. He squinted every few minutes since the family tree was so messed up and then, when they looked at one generation, there was something wrong. Some of the siblings didn't show the names of the wives like they should. Instead, there was a mixture and it took time for Jirou to register what it really meant. "This family constantly had INCEST!?"

Kawamura and the others piled over poor Jirou and saw the branches connecting to the siblings. What Jirou said and saw was true; many of the family members had children with their own siblings. There were many siblings and Shishido slapped himself mentally. "Geez, there are at least eighteen of them! They're ninety plus all in all! I think their family was closing into being as many as one hundred. Someone tell me why this family is so cracked up??? I mean – no wonder this family is so damn messed up!"

Oishi sighed after finding Mitsuda's name. "Well, there's Mitsuda's name. Now, all we have to do is trace it…"

While they were tracing the names, they found the name: Kiritsuga Yukihisa. Next to his name were seventeen other names most probably his siblings. They had many kids and most of them at the minimum had eight mistresses. Yukihisa was the one who had the least but his father had around twenty wives. Come to think of it, that was why there was so many rooms and the house was beyond its normal size. However, Momoshiro while looking at the names saw something. "Say, this guy had half brothers but heck, they all hold one thing in common: they would have motive."

Kawamura's eyes widened at Momoshiro's assumption. "Motive?"

"Yeah," Momoshiro pointed out, "this family seemed pretty traditional. So – most likely, the sons were to inherit many things so, jealousy could be a motive. The question is: How are we going to find out who it is? For sure – every member of this family is either insane or dead."

Shishido scowled. "That's true but where do we start?"

They were in a deep silence for awhile until they heard something drop on the floor. They turned around and saw that it wasn't a book but a body. Not just any body but of someone they knew. His back was full of deep gashes and burns. Blood pooled around him while his light brown hair slowly became more auburn because of his own blood. "Fuji!"

They helped Fuji up who was currently unconscious but Oishi could feel that Fuji had just gone through a lot because the tensai shivered when he touched him. His blue eyes were dull without lustre; his once angelic smile was not there but it was more like a very fake smile. Fuji had seen something at it wasn't pretty. Shishido growled. "Crap, I thought there was going to be a body crawling on the floor."

Then he felt somebody tap his shoulder and Kawamura was trembling. "Don't speak so soon!"

The half of the body was missing but this one was not a woman but a man, his fingers were missing and he was crawling on his knuckles. The wind blasted the door wide open when more people came inside. A woman staggered in with a very badly damaged pink bathrobe and a blade was protruding from her breast and they could see that her body was badly mutilated. Another was a little boy who's arm was dangling limply but not because he had no energy to lift it but rather, it was completely crushed and steel clanked on the floor and it was his prosthetic leg while the other one was a wooden peg. Their teeth were yellowish and Jirou heard something whirring and it wasn't a camera but something more like a chainsaw. They turned around to see a six foot tall man howling. _"Where is my family!? What have you done to them!?"_

The Regulars shrank back with an unconscious Fuji. Momoshiro groaned inwardly. "Damn, I thought I had seen everything but this takes the cake. What now!?"

Then, they heard something cocking itself and Shishido saw a gun-like object in one of the latters' hands. He saw the shape and shoved Jirou to the ground. "Duck damn it!"

Due to Shishido's agility, Jirou and Shishido dodged it and the rusty nails imbedded themselves in the wall. Jirou gulped. "Shishido, is that what I think it is?"

Shishido rolled his eyes. "Ya think!?"

Kawamura saw an opening at the left side and dragged Oishi while hauling Fuji over his back. "Come on, let's go!"

Momoshiro once again handed Kawamura a lamp post that he had found and Kawamura went wild. He didn't care what was zipping past his face anymore but hell, the mob slowly crowded them even further and when you can't find a pathway, make one. Kawamura easily made one for them at his speed of running and swinging of the small lamp post. Due to the burns, the room was pretty wrecked up so any idiot can come busting in like some moron. Shishido's expression darkened when he saw the crowd getting very persistent. "I wonder how long it will be before we lose our sanity!"

Some of them began crawling on the walls making horrible screeching sounds while they were gaining speed. Their legs were slowly getting numb until they found some stairs. Jirou grabbed Shishido. "This way! Wait--!"

He then suddenly stopped when the stairs suddenly disappeared. Under it was a meat grinder which was whirling with fast speed and blood splattered on their clothes. They drew in closer; cornering the Regulars and they now officially surrounded them. Kawamura was aimlessly swinging the lamp post while some began backing away from an insane Kawamura. Oishi saw another opening. "Wait for them to come at us!"

Shishido stared at him as if he had lost his mind. "Are you crazy!? Those things will jump!"

Oishi just smiled bitterly; he himself wasn't sure if they'll take the bait. "Trust me."

-That's Chapter 7! Hope you like it! Please review! Seriously…


	8. Save Me!

(I don't own Prince of Tennis!)

Chapter 8 – Save Me!

Atobe felt his whole body paralyse itself completely. His eyes dulled from their usual arrogance while he felt something sink into his skin. His eyes widened with horror when he found bones digging into his skin. However, he didn't show any reaction because his body was limp like a doll. His once arrogant smirk faded into a faint smile since he felt like giving up. However, the moment the thought about giving up passed his mind Atobe was horrified at what he was thinking. "What the hell is wrong with me!? I am Atobe Keigo and first and most of all, I don't give up!"

No matter how much he struggled, Atobe couldn't feel his entire body. The King of Hyotei could only see his bloodied Regular's uniform with his hands strapped to a throne made out of something he couldn't really tell. Something grasped his ankles and he felt it digging deep. Wanting to yell out in pain, Atobe grit his teeth because his pride didn't allow him to do so. His hands went limp while his body shivered due to the blood that wet his clothes. He was half conscious until he felt something wet hit his face again.

"Oi, Atobe!"

The sharp voice hit his ear again and he didn't even know who it was. His mind was too blurry to think while he slowly began blacking out. Movement seemed to be futile because when he tried to lift his limbs, they felt like they were loaded with lead. The woman was still leaning against him with her bony finger tracing his face. _"My dear Keigo, please stay here. Nobody is worthy for you, my dear King…"_

Though he liked the fact that he was being flattered, it also made him even more disgusted. "Get away from me, you minx," his voice sounded like a hoarse whisper.

Realizing that he was breaking away from the illusion, she drew back in horror. _"You…! But how did you break through!?"_

Atobe managed to get himself to sit up straight while his arrogance spread across his face once more. "You may be able to fool others but, you cannot fool ore-sama's eyes! Ore-sama no bigi ni yoina!"

His once dull blue eyes glistened into its bright colour again when he stood up and everything around him slowly began to crumble. The woman shrieked more when Atobe slowly gained some of his strength back. "Looks like, it will take more than that to fool ore-sama."

After that, everything crumbled into shards and he collapsed forward and by nostalgia, he just had to fall on Tezuka again. The bespectacled captain of Seigaku caught him while Ohtori had Echizen getting a piggy back ride from him. Hiyoshi shrugged. "I didn't know throwing water at his face would work. I wonder what he was seeing, since he was literally kicking and screaming…"

Ohtori shrugged. "I guess he reacted to the stimulus outside. But, look at his legs and arms…"

They could only stare in disgust and horror when they saw Atobe's pants completely torn while there were hand marks and bruises all over his legs. His arms weren't in good condition either, they were coated with blood and they had five puncture holes in them. His face also had a deep gash while his hair was completely soaked with not only water but blood as well. His pants which were once teal in colour looked purpler because of the mix of burgundy in it. He now had a frothy smile on his face after breaking out of the illusion and he was hanging on to Tezuka. Hiyoshi let out a sigh. "This house is a mess. I swear – no wonder the police couldn't get anything. It's because this place probably killed them before they did anything. But, why did they want us to solve the mystery when we are less than capable?"

Echizen replied nonchalantly. "Maybe it's because we're more closely related to the people more than we realize," –taking a book from his bag, his eyes widened, "Tezuka-buchou, look."

The bespectacled captain took Echizen's book and flipped through it. What he saw there completely caught him off guard: it was all of them; whatever happened to them here was in that book. Tezuka went through more of the pages until he found another page with the most gruesome thing on it. He shook his head but what he saw wasn't lying or an illusion; it was Fuji in a room. It was a bed room and he could see that even Fuji's eyes were crying tears of blood. It was either they gouged out his eyes (which were something Tezuka would rather not have) or maybe the blood was smeared on his face. Behind Fuji stood a woman with a scourge that had metal spikes on it and her face was contorted with a maniacal smile while Fuji's blood splattered on her face. In another hand, she had an axe and when he looked at the table behind the picture, on it there was a morning star, lethal injections and many more weaponry. Talk about a fusion of medieval and modern. "What else is here…?"

He continued to flip while Kikumaru yelped. "Poor Fujiko-chan, wait, look, it's Atobe!"

They finally saw what Atobe went through. His body was somehow chained to a chair while bones literally began crawling towards him. Fingers held him in place while some even dug into his skin. On his lap was a woman with a very seductive smile but also a very maniacal one. Her leg draped on Atobe's shoulder while her hand tightly gripped Atobe's arm. They also noticed that his eyes were dulled and at his feet, was a huge pool of blood with some things crawling towards him. They were women who were dismembered and some even had severed arms and were crawling using their tongues. Maggots crawled all over their bodies as they began to devour them. Kikumaru shivered. "Nyah~, Fujiko-chan's and Atobe's are the worst!"

Hiyoshi pointed out mutely when he saw another page. "Look."

On that page, it was Kaidoh who was strapped to a wooden table with belts constricting his movements. Surrounding him there were several people with scalpels and above him was a buzz saw. Kikumaru whimpered when he saw one of the tables that were standing next to Kaidoh. There was a bucket and it looked like they were going to harvest him for organs. "Nyah~, I hope the others are okay. I mean – this house is torturing us inside out when it wants us to solve a mystery nyah."

Hiyoshi let out a sigh. "Well, the sooner we find the stuff the better. We have the murder weapon; we just need to find the suspects. We need the answer for the what question before we can answer the who question. Problem is – we don't even know this family's background. So, we have nowhere to start at all. The only thing we know is, Kiritsuga Yukihisa. He's the owner of the house."

Echizen peered around. "Someone tell me if we're still in the same hallway we were in."

They started looking around and realized that there was something wrong. The hallway they were formerly in had no portraits while this one now had a stone wall and torches lighting up the place. Portraits decorated the wall and they were more the renaissance looking ones and they were in royal garbs. Ohtori also noticed that there were no suits of armor decorating the hallway holding hatchet axes. "Um, there were no suits or armor when we first came here, right, Tezuka-san?"

Tezuka looked around to see if there was anything coming after them and looked at outside. "When we came here, it wasn't raining right?"

"Uisu," Ryoma replied nonchalantly, "doshite, buchou?"

Thunder crackled and the windows swung open while the winds howled angrily. It was silent and every flash there was something there. They saw a metal boot standing the hallway and with another flash of lightning, a whole suit of armor stood erect with the eyeholes open. The armour was drenched with blood and filled with rust while wielding a rusty blade. Taking more steps forward, the more it began walking the faster its pace became. Soon, clanking of armour filled the hallway. Tezuka felt the sudden change of tension in the air. "We have to make a run for it, now."

Ohtori looked at the Seigaku captain with a wary look while his voice was revealing hints of fear. "Why? I don't see anything."

Hiyoshi saw blurry outlines rushing to them while the walls started turning around. "I think he's got a point because what kind of person has claws and runs at us!?"

Ohtori saw some things crawling on the wall and hissing was heard while doors heavily bolted themselves. The silver haired kohai looked at the portraits which seemed to shift in movement and from the paintings, claws began to stretch out while their faces slowly distorted. Their eyes were bloodshot red while fangs were coated with blood. Kikumaru, Ohtori, Tezuka, Hiyoshi (along with an unconscious Atobe and an immobile Echizen) made a run for it. Kikumaru dodged a flying axe. "Hoi nyah, buchou, I never knew the laps you made us run would come in handy one day!"

Tezuka twitched at Kikumaru's comment. "Not now, Kikumaru."

Ohtori ducked as an arrow zinged past him. "Wha! I didn't know they had bow and arrows here for display!"

Echizen mumbled while pulling down his cap. "This feels so redundant. They keep coming at us and we never did anything."

"Or someone," Tezuka stated, "doesn't want us to find something."

They finally reached the end of the hallway and Kikumaru tried yanking the door hysterically. "Eep, the door's bolted!"

Hiyoshi saw one of the armours move. "Everyone hit the dirt!"

An axe nearly took their heads while the beings were now gaining speed towards them. Tezuka thought he would never have to this. "Hiyoshi, hold Atobe for a moment."

The Hyotei ace slung Atobe over his shoulder when Tezuka gave the door a good kick. Kikumaru's eyes widened with amazement. "I forgot your grandpa taught you how to do that."

He ignored Kikumaru's remark. "Everyone, inside, now!"

They all got in and they bolted the door with a chair and they heard axes and weapons hit the door. They slumped unto the floor while breathing heavily while Ohtori managed to set Echizen on a chair. "What do we do now? We're trapped in a room that we don't know how to get out of unless the book case mysteriously opens. I mean – those axes will plunge any minute now."

Hacking could be heard from outside as the wood slowly began splintering and then, it stopped into a deadly silence. Ohtori gulped. "Are they gone?"

Kikumaru listened closely. "Nyah~, I hear something faint. It's something whirring…"

Tezuka's eyes widened with fear. "Chain saw," he managed to mumble.

They heard the wood being sawed and things began crawling against the door. They heard disgusting moans when blood began to seep through the door. Hiyoshi picked up a small sword which was hanging on the shield insignia. "This will have to do," –he positioned himself in front of the door, "Ohtori, go find an exit! We need one fast!"

The silver haired kohai began looking around and began looking for a key but there was nothing. "Hiyoshi, I can't find any!"

Hiyoshi muttered. "Shit, we're cornered. This is something that a person should never do: Get cornered!"

Echizen looked at the window next to them. "Buchou, we might have to jump again, don't we?"

Tezuka saw a window and began kicking himself mentally. "That is the worst way possible to escape but," –snapping his head up and calling the other Hyotei regulars, "we'll have to jump."

Ohtori's eyes widened with horror. "What!? We have to!?"

Hiyoshi gulped. "I… um… isn't there a door?"

Tezuka slung Atobe over his back again while Kikumaru grabbed Echizen. "Unfortunately, no."

Hiyoshi felt his whole body tremble at what was going on. "But… but!"

Ohtori saw the logic in Tezuka's way out and grabbed Hiyoshi. "Looks like that is our only way out!"

They ran towards the window and broke through the window while Hiyoshi howl echoed in the air. "I'M ACROPHOBIC, DAMN IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!"

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Meanwhile, by the stairs, Shishido, Oishi and the others were cornered. Kawamura still had an unconscious Fuji. "We're stuck and we might even fall in!"

Momoshiro had a few daredevil ideas. "Well, we could try jumping at the side of stairs or sliding off the banister seems like a good idea."

Oishi's eyes widened with horror. "Momo! We can't do that! We could die and there's a small possibility that we could end up in the meat grinders instead!"

Momoshiro grabbed Jirou who was frozen like a rock. "It's worth a try, Oishi-senpai! Unless you have any other better idea that will get us away from a chainsaw wielding man!"

Oishi knew that Momoshiro had a possible plan for escape but they were all terrified by the meat grinder. It was now or never and Oishi got on to the banister with a defeated sigh. "Alright, Momo. Let's try your idea. Though I really think that it's going to be tricky…"

But before Oishi could say anything, Momoshiro slid off the banister with Fuji hanging on his back and Jirou squealed while following after. "Weeeee!"

The mother of Seigaku stared in shock until he felt Kawamura grab his arm. "Let's go, Oishi!"

Shishido tried fending them off and soon began sliding down the banister before Oishi and Kawamura. "Crap, just go!"

Without having any time to protest, Oishi and Kawamura slid off the banister heading towards below. Shishido was ahead followed by Momoshiro who was clinging tightly to an unconscious Fuji and soon, the banister seemed never ending. Oishi called out. "Momo, something's wrong! Why aren't we at the last floor yet!?"

The black haired kohai shrugged. "I don't know! This house is pretty big after all!"

Oishi called out. "How's Fuji?"

Momoshiro looked at the tensai who was slowly beginning to stir. "Ugh, what's going on…?"

"Fuji-senpai," Momoshiro whooped in delight.

The blue eyed tensai looked around and saw that they were sliding down a banister. "How long have I been out?"

Momoshiro shrugged. "I don't know. Our watches are dead and they aren't working but judging how long we've been here, I'd say maybe five hours."

Fuji's blue eyes watched where they were going until he noticed something. There was something at the end of the banister when something began glistening in the dark with a demonic red colour. Fuji saw something yellowish white glisten in the dark and he was sure that wasn't gold. "Momo, we have to jump."

The black haired kohai stared at him quizzically. "Why, senpai?"

Fuji grabbed Momo's sleeve and Jirou's collar. "There's something there that's about to make us its dinner."

Momoshiro didn't fully understand what Fuji seemed terrified off but before he could ask, Fuji had given Jirou, Oishi and Shishido a signal to jump off. The four seniors jumped off and rolled on the floor on the carpet and when they landed, a spot light suddenly opened. Momoshiro looked up while observing the place. "Geez, the only thing I can see here is black and the light shining on us. What the hell is this place?"

"What lovely guests we have here," purred a feminine voice behind Momoshiro.

Shivering with fear, Momoshiro turned around only to see a woman in a white wedding dress with an angelic smile. _"You're quite the man to be here. I see you also have,"_ –passing her glance to the other regulars who were trying to get up, _"friends."_

Momoshiro saw the others on the ground and the woman opened the lights. _"I'm sorry for the inconvenience this has been for you all. You're all so young yet here you are being dragged into a political conspiracy. Mitsuda and Ryouji only wanted revenge for those whom they considered dear to them,"_ –bending down, she helped the kohai up, "_hi, I'm Kiritsuga Sayami. Hajimashite yoroshiku, Momoshiro Takeshi-san."_

This incredibly spooked Momoshiro since she even knew his name and his first name. No one had ever called him Takeshi except his parents and when her hand touched his, her hands were freezing. However, she seemed harmless or that's what Momoshiro wanted to think. When he stood up, he dared to inquire. "What are you doing here anyway?"

The woman smiled bitterly. _"I'm going to be married…"_

"Um," Momoshiro was now unsure of what to say, "okay, but to whom?"

Tears trickled down the woman's eyes and they weren't the crystals that normal people had, it was blood and now, it stained her dress. _"I'm getting married to… Kiritsuga Yoshiro…"_

"Yoshiro? Wasn't that name," Momoshiro then tried to recall, "in the family tree? The name Sayami was there too, wait! Hold up, you're his sister! Right?"

Sayami looked down with shame. _"Indeed, Momoshiro-san," _­–she began sniffling, _"I don't understand what this is for! I mean – it's just money that everybody's fighting over!"_

The woman fell to her knees and began sobbing uncontrollably. Oishi bent down to console her. "It's okay; we'll solve everything as soon as we can. Money? Is that the motive?"

Sayami looked up with her blood stained face. _"There's this thing they said about maintaining things within the family. They wanted a pure family. No commoners no nothing. Actually, Yoshiro is more my half brother… but still," _–she continued to cry, _"I love someone else and now, he's dead because of me!"_

Shishido scowled at the idea. "Gekidasa daze."

Jirou gulped. "Oh man, this family's so messed up! They kill people just so they can have their way…"

Fuji felt shivers travel up his spine. "Is he still here? As in, this Yoshiro guy, is he still here?"

Sayami nodded. _"Yes but, I'm not very sure anymore. The other women here in this house were many of the Kiritsuga Mistresses. Lutana looks like your friend, you, the one with blue eyes. What is your name? Also – I'd like to know who else is here. Maybe I can shed a little light on the case."_

Fuji nodded while shuddering at what happened to him back then. "Fuji Syuusuke. Before I tell you who else is here, I'd like to inquire: I remember someone calling me Lutana. Who was she?"

Sayami giggled softly. _"I'm surprised that there is a boy like you who actually looks like her. Lutana was the kindest one among all the mistresses. The one you saw, I'm not sure because the only one who had enough grudge to hate her was Miyura and Hitoma. Lutana, in fact, she was brought here against her will. Her parents sold her for money so they could invest in America. Her husband was Yukihisa and he treasured her so much. He treasured only two of his wives: Sagaraki Hina and Hyuga Lutana. Lutana, though he never married her because she knew that he was still suffering from his first wife's death. She even kept a secret from him so he wouldn't suffer so much – he wasn't the one who killed Hina because the stab marks on her body were only put there after. She died of poison actually," –_Sayami's fist curled into a ball, _"he was drunk though when he married his daughter and got her pregnant but, he regretted it almost immediately. Ryouji was Yuma's son and because he's a pure Kiritsuga, he was basically the one who would inherit everything."_

Momoshiro saw the motive now but that still left him with one question: who killed who?

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The magenta haired acrobat woke up and found himself in a nursery. There was baby music playing softly while he found a crib a few inches away from him. Gakuto sat up and began looking around. "Hey, where am I? Hello? Oi, Yuushi! Kikumaru, Fuji! Where are those guys? Most of all – where am I?"

"Shhh, be quiet little one," said a woman.

Gakuto looked up and trying to soothe a baby who was wailing his head off. The teen looked at the mother whose eyes then started burning with pure fury and impatience while she just simply dropped the baby in the crib and stormed off. Gakuto gulped and stayed hidden in a bunch of stuff toys that was covering him already. His eyes watched shiftily when the woman slammed the door again, this time, in her hand she had a kettle and something else that the acrobat couldn't make out. Then, the wailing got louder as something steaming poured into the crib. Gakuto covered his ears while the scream pierced his ear drums. It was blood curling and Gakuto was beyond terrified while covering his ears. "No, no, stop!"

The acrobat was beyond terrified and then, the crying grew even louder. The skies from outside became blood red and an angry moonlight shone in with the thunder crackling. The lightning flashed and revealed a very sinister shadow. When he looked from the pile of stuff toys, he saw something being raised into the air as the baby squalled as loud as his lungs could allow him. Tears escaped the magenta haired player's eyes when the baby was soon bashed on the wall by the woman and then suddenly, there was a deathly silence. Blood splattered all over the wall and there, he saw the woman with bloodied teeth. The baby was now dangling limply in the arms of the woman and Gakuto felt like he was going to puke. The baby had been torn open and now Gakuto saw the other object that the woman was holding, it was a butcher's knife. Gakuto swore softly under his breath. "This can't beat a professional Hollywood crew that Atobe would hire. I can't believe I'm watching this…"

Guts and entrails spilled on the floor as he heard a shrill shriek. The woman soon began pounding and scratching the wall and the wallpaper began peeling off. Suddenly, a feather lifted itself and touched Gakuto's nose. "Aa-choo!"

Gakuto covered his mouth but the woman heard it and began heading towards the place where he was. The magenta haired acrobat felt like peeing in his pants and began praying. "Kami-sama, please don't let her find me. Please don't let her find me…"

Instead, she found him and began repeating what he was saying. Her eyes were beadily looking at him which sent Gakuto spiralling back. He couldn't get up and so, he clambered away as she marched towards him screeching and eyeing him. _"You… you…"_

The knife was swung at him whom he quickly dodged. Because he was an acrobatic player, Gakuto managed to make his way through and when he got through, he slammed the door. Letting out a sigh of relief, Gakuto slumped down when he found himself in front of a young man. "So, you've made it out alive?"

Gakuto looked up and saw a man smiling innocently but screamed at him anyway. "Well, I nearly got eaten and chopped up for dinner!"

The man chuckled. "Don't worry, René is hardly like that. She's just quite agitated that her baby made quite a fuss."

"_But she boiled the kid and ate him," _Gakuto screamed mentally but tried to keep calm, "Erm, sure. I guess."

The man snickered when he saw Gakuto's terrified face because he now met three of them. "I hear that your friends are here."

Gakuto was puzzled for a moment. "Who?"

"A boy with a kansai accent and a silver haired boy," the man tried to recall, "I think the kansai boy was down this way," –pointing down to the dark hallway.

Gakuto looked at the man with gratitude. "Thanks! Yuushi, get your butt here I've got so much to tell you! Um, wait, what's your name?"

The man smiled but concealed the malice in them. "Orishoy. Just Orishoy and please make it quick, your friend might be in deep danger."

Gakuto sped off without any second thought to find Oshitari while the man sniggered. "So that's three, I wonder where the others are."

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Oshitari on the other hand was completely numb and he couldn't move. The blue haired kansai boy felt like he was drugged but his sight was still intact; he felt like he was trapped in his own body as the woman slowly began removing his shirt. _"Don't go anywhere, Yuushi-kun…"_

The Hyotei tensai struggled but like he felt, his body couldn't move. Her hand traced his face delicately when she started drawing out something from her belt. "What the hell is that? Man, how troublesome. I can't even see what the hell she's holding. It's glinting but I can barely make an image out of it."

"_Goodbye, Yuushi-kun,"_ a devilish smile appeared on her face while Oshitari's skin paled even more.

The more he struggled the more electricity pulsed through him. He kept his mouth shut; he bet if he screamed, even Atobe wouldn't come to his rescue and would just laugh his ass off at him. Oshitari kept his composure but he was feeling deathly afraid now. What happened was now, he felt something new: something cold was pressed against his neck and he felt something warm trickle down. Wait, did he just feel that? If his body were numb, he wouldn't right? Oshitari wondered. "What the hell? I can feel something trickling down my neck but I can't even budge a muscle. What kind of twisted logic is this?"

Soon, his sense of touch began returning to him. He felt something cold pressed against his wrist and he felt like that there was a body on top of him. The image was blurry but he managed to make out some shapes. "I'm starting to regret that I even wore glasses."

Kicking off the bed violently, he managed to throw the thing on top of him off but he felt something move out of its joint. Hissing because of his mistake and also choosing to ignore it, Oshitari continued thrashing until he felt something press against his lips. It was cold and soon, his thrashing got weaker and weaker until he was completely immobilized. His eyes barely managed to keep themselves open until the darkness completely engulfed him.

The last thing he remembered was a salty taste slipping down his very own throat and his own body succumbing to complete nothingness.

-That's chapter 8! Hope you like it! Please review!


	9. Released From Horror? Not!

(I don't own Prince of Tennis!)

Chapter 9 – Released From the Horror? Not!

The bespectacled data man from Seigaku woke up with a start. He checked his surroundings and found himself in a very dark and clammy room. Water dripped from the pipes and unto the floor while rats crawled on the floor. No matter how hard he tried, Inui was in the deepest and darkest depths of the house. Taking a few steps forward cautiously, Inui tried to feel his way out but somehow, he felt like he was in an endless room until something swats him in the face. Shaking his head, Inui grabbed the thing that hit him and it was a light switch. However the moment he pulled the cord, Inui saw what had happened to many of the people such as some being choked by piano strings, some were stabbed to death, some of the victims were even missing fingers and Inui checked something under his rubber shoes and discovered that he had stepped on a bloody eyeball. His pants were drenched with blood and around him, were bodies of many random people and Inui didn't even know what held them all together. Tilting his glasses for a better look, Inui began scribbling down. "There's an eighty percent chance that the killer is still here," –looking at the mangled state of the bodies, "all signs point that these bodies were dumped here just a few days ago."

Inui actually had the guts to bend down and check the bodies. "Hmm, these people were on the missing people list. Question is: what pulls them all together? Ii data," – he began scribbling and making a diagram until he felt something tug on his jacket. Turning around, a little girl was smiling at him. _"Look, food."_

Inui's face showed bewilderment. "Food, what is she talking about?"

Then, he heard something move a little and when he looked in front of him, the bodies began to move. Inui quickly shut his notebook and when the bodies began crawling and maggots were swarming their bodies. A piercing shriek filled the room while the light flickered a little bit and one flicker after the other, maggots began chewing off the flesh while they crawled towards the data man. Inui managed to run in one direction which was going upstairs until he found the door was locked. The bodies, despite being infested with maggots began making their way towards him. A trail of blood left itself on the ground and Inui violently kicked the shutter but no good, it was sealed so tightly that it may take even Kabaji to wrench the door open.

Suddenly, Inui let out a yelp when he felt someone dig her nails into his skin. Her face was contorted with rage and despair as she sank her teeth into his skin. He managed to shake her off but it wasn't good enough because the horde got even closer. He gave it a sound punch against the wood several times until his knuckles bled from the splinters. Closing his eyes, he felt something heavy drop over him until he heard some grunting and things being whacked off. Opening his eyes, it was Kaidoh who managed to bust open the door. "Inui-senpai, what happened? How did you end up in here?"

"_Exactly what I was thinking of,"_ thought Inui while replying, "I guess there was a trap door that led me down here." That was the only logical explanation for it.

Kaidoh yanked him out as they slammed the door behind them. Time stilled for a moment and there was a pregnant pause, the only thing they could hear was the ticking of the grandfather clock which stood next to them. Kaidoh let out his usual hiss. "Fsssh…"

"I know," Inui now was getting completely frustrated, "we still haven't found the killer. But – I found more victims. We just need time to find out what the victims had in common. I have to admit – the way they died and the way they were simply dumped is quite, infuriating…"

The two Seigaku Regulars sat down quietly until Kaidoh wondered. "Do you think the killer is someone within?"

Inui was thrown off by Kaidoh's question. "Within what or where?"

"Within the family," Kaidoh continued uneasily, "I don't think that there's anyone random enough to attack an entire household unless he wants attention."

Inui paused to think about Kaidoh's idea; it was possible. Why would someone outside the family attack them? He had read about the Sagaraki Family in the magazine and they were praising them. Was jealousy the motive? No, there would be too many random suspects for that matter. Inui opened his notebook and checked what info he had about the family. They were pacifists, philanthropists and very powerful business people. There would be greed for the money but after seeing one page that was filled with all possible suspects, it changed his thoughts. The only possible theory was that someone in the family hated him and the entire family, but who would that be? "Kaidoh, we need to find the family tree or an album that has their picture."

Kaidoh gulped. "Sure, we just need to leave now, senpai."

Inui gave him a quizzical look. "Eh?"

What totally terrified Kaidoh was that now, the floor was being scratched upon and more things began crawling towards them. Rats and more maggots ate through the wood and started making their way towards Inui and Kaidoh. Without further ado, Kaidoh dragged Inui with him and made a run for their lives.

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They finally hit the ground and glass shards rained on them some even managing to impale them a little. Atobe looked up. "Arn~, ore-sama never expected himself to jump out a window!"

Ohtori let out a sigh while he looked at his colleague. "I'm sorry, are you okay, Hiyoshi-san?"

The Hyotei ace felt so sick after jumping out the window to the point he looked like he was about upchuck whatever he had for lunch the other day. Echizen wobbled a bit while trying to keep himself stable. "Buchou, where are we?"

Tezuka looked around while they found themselves in the ball room. It was full of must and dust that made everything look so old and dirty. The bespectacled captain of Seigaku kept on looking around for things that might help them solve the mystery but alas, he found nothing. Echizen began looking and let out a snort. "Looks like whatever evidence they had for the crime was destroyed. Whatever they were hiding, they did a pretty good job in concealing everything."

Atobe growled. "Che, this place could at least hire some house help before allowing it to dilapidate. But, it's quite well maintained for a house that's been burned down; I can give that much credit."

Hiyoshi began looking around while Kikumaru began jumping up towards the higher places. "Nope, there's nothing here, nyah! Oi, buchou did you find anything?"

A harsh cold wind brushed against them as the window swung open. Ohtori shivered. "Yeesh, its cold in here I don't remember leaving the window open."

The king of Hyotei growled while slamming and bolting the window that swung nearly past his head. "There! I closed the damn window! It was creating such a draft and I swear, if that thing opens again…"

As if it heard Atobe's threat, the wind howled against the window and the pane swung wide open. Atobe twitched while Tezuka felt something ominous enter and thunder crackled and struck the marble floor. Ohtori jumped in fright while he let out a small yelp. "Atobe-san, since when did lightning strike inside the house?"

The regulars noticed that a storm had begun to brew outside. Trees swung violently while the wind let out an angry howl. Every time the thunder cracked, something slowly began to take shape. It was hooded figure and every time it crackled a few more times, they soon found themselves surrounded. Thunder continued to roar outside while they made their way towards them. Unfortunately though, they didn't notice while Echizen found a picture. "Buchou, take a look at this."

Engraved on the wall were writings and hanging above it was a huge frame. Tezuka titled his glasses slightly to optimize his eyesight and there, he managed to see a huge frame. The portrait extended all the way to one post to another. In the middle, there was an old man seated with a cane in hand. He looked quite kind and not like senile or let alone evil. Nevertheless, looks were very deceiving; behind him, there were many well dressed women and judging from the thick make-up, Tezuka was able to discern which of the women were geishas and which were not. "Buchou," –Echizen gave him a glance of concern when he saw his captain's eyes widen every second. Normally, Tezuka wouldn't show much emotion until Echizen saw his captain's fist curl up until they were visibly white.

"The family was very politically inclined," Tezuka replied calmly, "and also pretty materialistic when it came to business."

Kikumaru bounced towards them and glomped Echizen while listening to Tezuka. "Really nyah? How can you tell?"

Tezuka traced the framework and brushed away the dust but the colour didn't seem to fade. "This frame alone was made out of pure gold."

"P-pure gold, nyah!? Really? Demo," Kikumaru looked at the frame again, "who are those people?"

They heard something slam hard against the wall and found Hiyoshi pinned to the wall. Atobe looked around. "Where did that--?"

Before anyone could say anything, they were all locked onto an "x" shaped wall. Cuffs locked their wrists and ankles and these things held fast; they weren't easy to snap off. Kikumaru tried wriggling out but he couldn't, Tezuka tried pulling out his wrist from the bonds but it was no use. Thunder crackled as the floor started making out a symbol on the floor. It was the kanji word for the Kiritsuga family and it suddenly lit ablaze while someone rose from the floor. Atobe looked closely. "They have an elevator in the ballroom? Have to get myself one of those."

Only then did they notice the hooded people. They began chanting something while the elevator slowly rose up. On it, there man was in a black cloak like a magician while he smirked. _"You're quite amazing to find this place. I think you've figured it out the mystery, just like your grandfather when he came here. Unfortunately, I had to silence him somehow."_

The bespectacled captain said nothing though his body pulsed with anger while the man advanced towards them. Tezuka recently remembered that his grandfather had gone through an induced coma and now, there was the reason despite the fact he didn't want to believe it. Every step the man took, his foot print lit the floor and flames began to appear. The torn curtains flashed into a huge fire and soon, the entire room was engulfed in a huge inferno. Panicking, Hiyoshi kicked violently. "Damn, they won't break off!"

The man smiled. _"And now, for my greatest feat, I will set this young man," _–referring to Tezuka, _"ablaze and let him come back alive."_

Their eyes widened; Kikumaru and Echizen didn't want to believe what that man just said but he just said it: he was going to burn Tezuka alive. Atobe smirked. "That's a bluff; you can't set people on fire that easily unless you had something combustible which ore-sama doesn't think you have anything for that matter."

The man smirked while snapping his fingers. Someone walked towards him and handed him something that Atobe couldn't make out. _"Really?"_

Without second thoughts, the contents of the can splashed out. Something wet hit Tezuka and soon he was soaked in what was not water but it didn't take an idiot to figure out what he had just thrown on Tezuka. The man had a maniacal smile while setting down a can. _"How sure are you that I have nothing combustible? This can contains just the right amount of combustible material."_

Atobe's eyes widened when he saw a gas can standing next to the man. _"Don't worry, I have a special feat for you as well," –_turning around, the man faced the walls and the regulars heard a loud applause in the background but they were pretty sure that they were the only ones in the room. The man smirked. _"Now, to begin the feat, burn!"_

A fire lit at Tezuka's feet and soon, his body was being licked with the heat of the flames. Gritting his teeth in pain, Tezuka tried to find a way out now seeing that his arms and legs were bound. "Death by fire? Hold on – whatever we're seeing here is just an illusion," shaking his head, Tezuka tried to clear his thoughts and when he tried yanking his left arm out, his shoulder just had to act up again and freeze itself. The previous knife wound had made the injury much worse, "I can't even snap myself back into reality. But there's one method I know that might snap me back into reality."

If there was one thing he knew, fear may conquer the human mind but pain conquers fear quite easily. Tezuka bit his lip until blood started trickling down but the pain wasn't working that well either. The man haughtily laughed until he saw that Tezuka didn't let out single sound so; he decided to do something else. _"Never mind, my next feat shall be," ­_–taking out a bunch of steel poles, _"I will now run this boy through and make sure he's still alive!"_

They didn't know who they were referring to until Kikumaru found a pole stuck in his right shoulder. The red haired acrobat yelped in pain while more poles began imbedding into his body and the man smirked in joy while he caused the two Seigaku Regulars to writhe in pain. He turned to the three Hyotei Regulars who were hanging on to their "x" shaped prison and bind. _"Are you all eager to die as well? I think I already have a routine for you three."_

A woman walked towards him while carrying a vat of something white. Atobe leaned forward to see but he couldn't see anything. The man smirked. _"Apparently, it seems inflicting pain on most of you won't do very much but I have a much better plan! Now," _–pointing to the vat and then grinning psychotically at Hiyoshi, _"It's time I made a true wax figure out of real live people!"_

The Hyotei ace struggled until he felt the hot wax pour against his skin. Gritting in pain until he could do so no longer, Hiyoshi let out a howl of pain and soon discovered that his arms were becoming cemented like. No matter how hard he kicked, the wax held fast; he slowly solidified until his body was turned into a pure white wax figure. Ohtori stared in horror while Atobe's eyes widened with pure horror while the man picked up an axe. _"Now, I can split the boy in two easier and this time, he will die!"_

While the man's laughter echoed in the entire room, Ohtori was trembling in terror but he closed his eyes until he heard something metal clang on the floor. When he opened his eyes, the man stared in awe and horror when Ohtori had noticed that he was suspended in mid air until he hit the floor. Behind him, there was someone holding one of the cuffs and he dropped it on the floor making a deafening clang. "Usu."

Ohtori looked up and he was ever so grateful to see the huge kohai behind him. "Kabaji, you're here!"

Atobe saw Kabaji take off the cuffs of Hiyoshi and he as well while he snapped his fingers. "Kabaji, release the Seigaku Regulars as well."

Replying with his usual "usu", Kabaji managed to break them away from the illusion from what they were suffering. They all fell on the floor while the man howled. _"No! How can he have broken through it!? That's almost impossible! I mean – how could a mere middle schooler just break like that?"_

Atobe smirked. "It's called brute force, fool. Just remember: Kabaji ain't easy to use illusions on."

The man's face contorted with anger while he let out an electrifying wail. The howl got louder and louder while everyone was left vulnerable at that moment. He felt something walking towards him and it was the woman with her contorted face. She was one eye blind while her hair was in a greasy mess. Her skin was bluish green tinted while her she picked up the fallen and immobile freshman. Despite being dead, this woman proved to be very strong. She hauled Echizen over her shoulder and walked towards the man. The man saw her with Ryoma who was dangling limply due to his busted leg and a maniacal smile replaced his loud howl. _"Yes, a bite for starters."_

Echizen wriggled violently in order to get loose. "Yada!"

Atobe, seeing that he was the only one within range to catch up to Echizen; he bolted forward and pulled the prince out of the woman's hands causing her to fall and hit the ground. However, with a shrill shriek, she managed to grab Atobe's ankle and forcefully twist it. Though he wasn't used to tripping on his own feet, they both fell and hit the ground while she dragged herself towards him. The purple haired Hyotei captain managed to wrestle her grip off and this time, when she tried again, he snapped his fingers. "Stop her, Kabaji."

Without any hesitation, Kabaji stepped on the woman's wrist forcing out a sickening cracking sound while the woman's screams wailed even louder. Instead of caring for his companion, the man's smile became more demonic while horns began to appear while his hands became claws. _"Yes, yes, scream! Louder! I need more music! This scream," _–he looked up at the roof with a snicker, _"is such great music for this room! Don't you think!?"_

Kikumaru tugged Tezuka's sleeve when he pointed up. "Buchou, look!"

Tezuka saw a dangling chandelier which had five rows of crystal beginning to shake and called out. "Echizen, Atobe, Kabaji, get out of there!"

Atobe looked up and saw that the chandelier was dangerously shaking and despite his twisted ankle, Atobe shoved both Echizen and Kabaji while the bigger boy despite falling managed to yank Atobe and Echizen out of the way. The chandelier crashed while the room was devastated into a heavy silence. Kikumaru looked around while everyone crouched to cover themselves from the crystal shards that rained from above them. "Is everyone okay, nyah?"

However, before they could reply, a loud shriek rang in the air and shattered the window glass while the shards and pieces flew with the wind. The storm quieted itself leaving a much trashed room. Atobe was helped up by Kabaji while Echizen got a ride from Kikumaru. Ohtori helped Hiyoshi up after being turned into a wax sculpture. "So, what now?"

Tezuka went towards the portraits. "First things first, we concentrate in finding the others first. We've actually covered more ground this way and the only thing we can do now is find our way back to the living room. Because other than that, we have no way out of this house unless we solve the mystery."

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Gakuto ran through the hallways looking around for his doubles partner. "Yuushi! Where are you!? Hey come on, answer me!"

The magenta haired teen's reply remained unreturned as Gakuto continued searching the hallway for Oishitari. All of a sudden however, he heard a loud thump. Something was dragging itself on the ground and Gakuto didn't want to turn back and look what was behind him but what could he do, his curiosity was eating him so he turned around. One by one, portraits fell on the floor while mirrors too began cracking. Gakuto's body shivered at what he was seeing. "Um, I don't think I wanna stay and see what's coming after me!"

With this, he broke into a fast sprint. Usually, he would get exhausted from all the running but from his exhaustion was renewed adrenaline. Suddenly, something whizzed past Gakuto and he was pretty sure that it was something glistening and rusted. Gakuto bent over in different angles and even had to do the Moon Salute several times. Knives flew out towards him faster and faster and Gakuto didn't care anymore if his legs felt like lead. He finally found a door and ran into it while knives pierced the wall. Breathing in relief, Gakuto slumped down until he looked at where he was. He found Oishitari sprawled out on the bed like a bear rug and completely unconscious. Gakuto bounced towards him and shook him. "Oi, get up! Oishitari!"

The blue haired kansai boy didn't respond and his sclera was quite diluted. His eyes had also lost that lustre of life while his body hung limply. Gakuto looked around. "Man oh man, how do I get this guy up? When I slept over in his house, he was never a deep sleeper! What the hell and how the hell do I wake this guy up!?"

Looking around desperately, Gakuto couldn't find anything and not even water. This time, he was going to regret what he was going to do next. Blowing on to his fist and then looking at Oishitari, Gakuto knew this was going to get him killed. Walking towards Oishitari, Gakuto began praying that Oishitari wouldn't kill him while his heart raced madly.

A few minutes later, no one even bothered listening to the loud yell. "OW!"

Oishitari woke up while rubbing nose while Gakuto sheepishly hid his fist. He had no other way to wake him up; he certainly didn't want to punch him and kissing him wasn't an option either. He chose the simpler method: punching Oishitari's lights out. He was lucky that he didn't break Oishitari's glasses. "Sorry Yuushi," he apologized with a sheepish grin.

Oishitari sat up; coughing while feeling his neck. There was really a slash mark and blood trickled down a little. Gakuto pointed out while trembling. "Um, Yuu, you're neck's bleeding…"

Oishitari put his hand on his neck and saw blood. He then proceeded to feel out his back and there were really electrocution burns and some bruises and hand prints on his body. Oishitari felt his whole head ache while his balance was still a little off. "Damn, what the hell is going on?"

Gakuto let out sigh of relief. "Phew, you're okay. I thought you were dead! You were just sprawled out on the bed like some useless bear rug that went through a washing machine! Yuushi, where the hell are the others? Didn't they come to look for you?"

Oishitari shrugged. "I guess not, seeing I've been tied down to a bed. How did you find me anyway?"

The magenta haired acrobat shrugged. "Ne, some guy named Orishoy told me you were down this way. But, he never told me you were sprawled out on the bed lifeless while you were sweating your butt off! You've sweat a lot more than you usually do while we're doing our usual regulars training."

"Orishoy? Gakuto," Oishitari felt a vein bulging at his temple, "that name is so mixed up. What kind of person names their kid such a stupid name?"

"I don't know," Gakuto shrugged, "maybe we should get out of here. Though I wouldn't recommend using the door," –Gakuto said while pointing at the door where he had previously entered, "it has knives and some crazy arson is gonna come at us with knives and a flamethrower!"

Oishitari wasn't sure on how to deal with his doubles partner's crazy imagination but he got up and went towards the door. "Gakuto, that's even worse. Are you sure you haven't been driven insane?"

Gakuto nodded vigorously while he went behind Oishitari; trembling as he spoke. "Do you think it's still out there?"

Rolling his eyes, the blue haired kansai prodigy went out to open the door. "There's nothing, Gakuto. I don't see what the problem is."

They left the room until Gakuto saw a little boy behind them. "Hey, look! Don't you think that's…?"

Oishitari took a closer look. "Isn't that Ryouji?"

His hair shaded his eyes while he wore the Hyotei school uniform. In his hands, he was holding a ball while his body emitted a creepy white aura that could send people running. _"Oishitari-senpai…"_

Gakuto shivered while the kansai boy kept his composure while the boy's smile became impish. _"Play with me!"_

The two exchanged glances while the little boy kept bouncing. _"Please play with me,"_ the boy begged, _"I'm so lonely. Nee-chan is still in school and I'm home all alone. Please play with me!"_

Gakuto dismissed him. "Sorry, we can't! We got a mystery to solve so we can get the hell out of here!"

The boy's expression however changed from innocent and impish into maniacal and demonic. _"I SAID: "PLAY WITH ME, OISHITARI-SENPAI!" I WASN'T ASKING YOU, MONKEY BOY!"_

The magenta haired boy fumed at the insult. "What did you say!?"

"_Ryouji,"_ a sharp voice commanded the little boy.

They looked up and saw an old man with a cane and with a stern look. _"What did I tell you about screaming in the hallways!?"_

The boy cowered up immediately. _"I'm… I'm sorry, desu!"_

The man began beating the boy with his cane repeatedly and it wasn't one of those normal hits. Blood splattered on the wall and the kid began crying and screaming for help. Oishitari and Gakuto couldn't believe what they were seeing but they were too frozen to move until they saw the man with a cane pointing at them with a very evil glare. _"What are you two doing here!? This is the Kiritsuga Mansion, not some damn playground you can play in!"_

Before they could even say anything, the two broke into a wild sprint and left.

-That's Chapter 9! Please review!


	10. Insanity

(I don't own Prince of Tennis!)

(I'd also like to thank speadee for giving me some questions that I forgot to reconsider)

Chapter 10 – Insanity

"Tell me," Atobe ran his hands through his hair while trying to discern things, "you fell down the well and here you are talking to us, how the hell did you get here!?"

Ohtori jumped back at the harsh tone of Atobe's voice. "There were certain holes in the well! You know how water erodes rock right? So, since there were holes," –he shrugged, "I just managed to climb up, Atobe-san but there were so many things coming after me! I mean – there were dead women and the whole well was filled with black water and…!"

Hiyoshi sighed. "Forget about it. I have a question though, if they want us to solve the damn mystery then why do they keep hunting us down!?"

Echizen shrugged. "For all you know, we have some resemblances to some people in their family."

Atobe scoffed at the tennis prodigy's reply. "Che, no one can ever be like ore-sama."

Tezuka eyed the writings engraved on the walls. "There's another thing, they never changed their names. The wives usually inherit the name of the husband but here, it still shows their maiden name," –the bespectacled captain pointed out the writings, "I never knew that they would place their own family tree here in the ballroom."

"Probably to impress people, nyah," Kikumaru pouted, "probably to show how insane they are too."

Ohtori sighed. "This family so sad, I mean – Ryouji may have been the youngest of the family but their ages don't add up. I mean, Ryouji is only two years apart from his siblings, right? He told me. He had a sister in Seigaku I think that was Mitsuda-san I think."

Echizen peeked at the pictures. "The weird thing is – why didn't they go to the same school? I mean – Mitsuda was my classmate and she liked her brother. She was fine with him as far as I'm concerned."

Atobe shrugged. "Rivalry? Or maybe the parents just gave more priority to the boy, che, traditions. They can drive ore-sama insane sometimes."

While Atobe was busy ranting, Kabaji tapped his captain on the shoulder. "Atobe… I found… this…"

Shocked that he didn't reply with his usual "usu", Atobe thought that it was really important for Kabaji to make a full length sentence. He saw a jet black notebook in Kabaji's hand while he gave him a quizzical stare. "Where did you get this, Kabaji? Most of all, where did you come from?"

"Library," the bigger kohai meekly replied, "I… was… with Taki in closet after the library."

The king gave a quizzical look to Kabaji. "So, how did that lead you here?"

The big kohai shrugged while handing Atobe the notebook. "Here."

"Kabaji found this probably when he was with Taki," Atobe thought while he examined it carefully, "I bet the first place Taki went to was probably the family study. I guess Taki does have a brain somewhere after all. Also, I'm quite impressed that Kabaji even bothered taking orders from Taki."

Flipping and skimming through the pages, Atobe thought that the notebook was useless until he found a stuffed note. Plucking out carefully after seeing how old and yellow it was, Atobe unfolded it carefully. "Looks like we found another piece of the mystery that could give us answers."

Ohtori peeked over Atobe's shoulder. "What does it say?"

Echizen slowly became very cautious of his surroundings. "Buchou, I think we should head back to the living room. The others might be there and they might know some stuff that we don't know. Also," – he began looking around, "this place is emitting something really ominous and we have no idea what this is this time."

Atobe put the piece of paper in his pocket after hearing what Echizen said. "That's pretty good for a brat. I bet Oshitari must be laughing himself sick after he hears what happens to us."

"I have a pretty good feeling," Hiyoshi mumbled, "that they're experiencing a piece of hell of their own. I mean – I'm sure we're not the only ones attacked."

Kikumaru nodded. "Hoi nyah, what about Fujiko-chan? We better find him! Last time I saw him, he was being crucified to the wall!"

Their eyes widened with horror. "Are you serious!?"

Echizen pulled down his cap while muttering and hiding his disgust. "Mada mada dane, Kikumaru-senpai."

"It's true," whined the red headed acrobat, "Fujiko-chan was trying to save that idiot Gakuto and I but then something stopped him and Oshitari just froze to the ground, nyah!"

They all exchanged worried glances with each other; this house was keeping something from them and so was someone else. Atobe snapped his fingers. "Kabaji, let's go. We need to round up the Hyotei regulars. They might have found something we haven't."

"Usu," rang Kabaji's usual reply.

Tezuka looked at Kikumaru and Echizen who only nodded when they saw his glance. Hiyoshi and Ohtori followed after Atobe and Kabaji while Echizen still needed a piggy back ride from Kikumaru.

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Oishi and the others were still in another room. Kawamura looked at Oishi. "Hey, don't you think it's strange?"

The fuku buchou of Seigaku sheepishly laughed. "What's not strange about this house, Taka-san? I mean – we've been attacked several times already and they want us to solve the mystery while they keep attacking us. How are we supposed to get this done if they won't let us help them?"

"_It's the dark feelings of the house and members that project what you see,"_ replied Sayami, _"because this family was so corrupted; their souls and their sins engulfed the house and distorted almost everything. I think you've met many of the mistresses of the Kiritsuga family but most of them weren't that malevolent. They only grew restless and malevolent when a week had passed after their death. Deaths happened here like it was a simple batch of homework. In and out, occasional screams were heard around the house. The family seemed so used to the fact that everybody was screaming."_

Jirou yawned while he then fell asleep on Momoshiro. "Wake me up when it's over."

Momoshiro could only stare in awe at the narcoleptic that was sleeping away his horrifying nightmare. He didn't even understand how Jirou did this; let alone have fun sliding down the banister while running away from flesh eating ghosts with pitch forks and fire. Oishi continued to ask Sayami. "Hey, how come the women married to the family from other families never inherited the Kiritsuga name? Was it something that prejudiced them or something?"

Sayami shook her head. _"It was all foolish pride, Oishi-san. The Kiritsuga's were too proud to admit that they had fallen for commoners and so, in order to keep track of the family, they forced the women to use their maiden names. Like Hina, she maintained her last name "Sagaraki" which allowed them to keep track of the family. Some say its arrogance, some say its fear but Hina was really Yukihisa's first wife and his real love. The others were nothing compared to her. Many of the mistresses well, grew jealous…"_

"Also," Shishido pointed out, "what the hell is with the portraits? I mean – they showed us how our friends die?"

Sayami shook her head. _"They didn't die. What they're going through is something many of the mistresses gone through. Some are just vengeful attempt after all, some of your friends look like the mistresses like him," _–referring to Fuji, _"and some even look like the Kiritsuga members."_

"Like Oshitari looking like Yukihisa," Fuji recalled when Gakuto did mention that there was a brunette version of Oshitari on one of the portraits.

Sayami nodded. _"although, I think its best that you don't leave your friends again," _–referring to Kawamura and Jirou.

Kawamura shrugged. "It's alright. Akutagawa-san was sleeping and the living room was the only place where Jirou could actually sleep."

Oishi sighed. "Yeah, but it was pretty stupid of us because you guys could've gotten killed."

Shishido rolled his eyes. "Yeah because you have seemed to forgotten that Jirou's a heavy sleeper and a narcoleptic!"

"_Be careful what you say, Taka-san," _­–Sayami warned, _"Shina isn't so benevolent when it comes to strangers and she lurks mostly in the living room and the other receiving parts of the house. Well even to her own family, she was mentally challenged."_

Shishido scowled while adding bluntly. "Retarded?"

"_Not really," _Sayami mentioned with a bittersweet smile, _"she became like that after she saw our mother die. She isolated herself to the point she developed Schizophrenia so, she sometimes talked to herself and even had a bi-polar disorder. She was pretty smart though."_

Shishido raised an eyebrow. "Sure she was smart; smart enough not to realize that her family was crazy!"

Sayami's smile became even more rueful. _"I'm sorry. I know this house has driven you all to your limits but you're all on the right track. You've gotten most of the parts so far. I'm sorry for having Ryouji, Yuma and Mitsuda dragging you all into this. In return, I'll see to it that not many of the members attack you. I think Mayumi protected a few of your friends, I think she even returned his Regulars jacket," _–she looked around while she opened the door, _"here, you guys can pass here. It's a lot safer than the other passageways. Oh and Fuji-san?"_

The brown haired tensai looked at her with an innocent smile. "Yes?"

Sayami smiled. _"Mitsuda did have a crush on you before. She used to tell me how great you are in tennis. She played tennis for you. I just wanted to let you know."_

Fuji nodded and added with a weak smile. "Oh. Then, I think it's best that I would help her back to heaven then. It's the least I can do."

Sayami nodded. _"Gambatte. I hope you will all triumph."_

Shishido smirked. "If it's one thing that we don't do, is fail at what we do. Persistent is our middle name."

Sayami could only smile at Shishido and the others while they proceeded to leave.

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"Say Yuushi," Gakuto asked the kansai blue haired prodigy, "how come you paired us up with our rivals?"

Oshitari took a deep breath and admitted meekly. "First of all, we could learn more about our moves against each other. Secondly, I needed to keep track of people. I paired us up with our counter parts for that purpose. Other than that, I have to admit; I think I should have gone with Oishi's idea."

Gakuto gave him a droll stare. "Ya think?"

Ignoring the tone in Gakuto's voice, Oshitari looked behind him. "The senile old man's gone right?"

The magenta haired acrobat looked behind him. "Yeah, he's gone. I can't believe he beat Ryouji to the ground."

Oshitari kicked the dust bunny that was on the ground in total frustration. "This family is so mixed up. I mean – you saw what was in the office. Those things that begun attacking us and probably thought I was Yukihisa and tried to eat your innards out! She kept calling me Yukihisa-sama and as far as I'm concerned – my name ain't Kiritsuga Yukihisa unless I'm possessed or something!"

Gakuto nodded vigorously; he himself didn't understand what was going on. The house was violently attacking them and the ghosts wanted them to solve a mystery but they were too busy running for their lives to even figure out what was going on. Gakuto poked Oshitari. "Hey, what did you see in the notebook?"

Oshitari replied nonchalantly. "The usual, entries of him regretting his actions and especially getting poor Yuma pregnant with their dear son who happens to be," –feeling out his pocket, Oshitari realized it was gone, "damn, I left it at that room when I was being frozen to the ground."

Gakuto shrugged. "Well, we can't do much now, Yuushi. Maybe we should head back to the living room where we can discuss. Knowing Atobe, he probably found something and start ranting about how "ore-sama is better than all of you". He always does that anyway and at least he has Tezuka with him, I'm sure whatever he found will be more unbiased on himself. No offence to Atobe but, Tezuka sure knows how to keep his ego in check despite him being captain. No wonder everyone respects the guy."

"He arouses that kind of feeling," Oshitari stated calmly, "it's normal for people to fear him like hell."

While walking, they heard some thumping as well. Gakuto leapt behind Oshitari right away. "Yuushi, what was that?"

Oshitari listened tentatively to the sounds that were thumping against the hard wood. "Looks like it's someone whom we don't know."

Gakuto gulped until he saw a big bunch of books moving by themselves and Gakuto let out a loud shriek. "Aaaaaah, floating inanimate killer objects! Run!"

"There was a ninety percent chance that Gakuto would show up with Oshitari," calmly calculated the voice.

Oshitari smirked. "Seigaku's data man, Inui Sadaharu. You gave us quite a scare."

Inui tilted his glasses while Kaidoh hissed to make his presence known. Gakuto snapped. "Damn it! You guys crept up on us!"

Kaidoh fired back while hissing. "We didn't mean to! We were just bringing this back to the living room to do some research on the Kiritsuga Family!"

Gakuto snarled as a retort. "Che, then at least yell out for us!"

Kaidoh was about to retort until Inui stopped him. "We might as well head back. I think external forces are at work. Not just supernatural but the killer could be in here as well."

Oshitari nodded while looking around. "This place is getting too quiet for me. We might as well go and make sure nothing with a knife chases us."

They started making their way towards the stairs until they heard a loud thumping. Gakuto jumped at the sound of that. "Oi Seigaku that better not be you!"

"Why the hell would it be me," Kaidoh snarled, "I'm trying to make myself as quiet as possible and my foot steps aren't even that heavy, dumbass!"

Oshitari silence the two as he listened again. He felt his hair stand on its ends and then, they heard something scratching on the wall. Turning around slowly, the regulars prayed that it wasn't somebody who would eat them alive. When they turned around, there was no one there but the wall had scratch marks all over it. The scratches drove itself in deeper and Oshitari mouthed. "Run."

The four lost their exhaustion almost immediately and made a break for it. With renewed adrenaline, they ran through the hallway while Gakuto was screaming at the top of his lungs. "DEMON!"

They ran so fast that they forgot how many times they made a turn and then, Inui began scribbling in his notebook. "The living room should be right below us."

Gakuto grabbed Oshitari. "Then what are we waiting for?"

Oshitari resisted the urge to kick Gakuto where the sun doesn't shine. "You expect us to phase through the floor like a ghost, Gakuto?"

"Oh yeah," scratching his head sheepishly, Gakuto had completely forgotten what they were running away from.

Oshitari looked back while halting for a moment. "I don't think it's there anymore."

Later, Kaidoh suddenly heard something whiz past him and he was definitely sure that it was not something soft and cuddly. He grabbed Inui. "Senpai, duck!"

Inui and Kaidoh hit the floor while they saw a knife whiz past them. Oshitari grabbed Gakuto who grabbed Kaidoh who was still latched on to Inui and made a mad bolt for another hallway. While running someone grabbed his regular's jacket and in doing so, dragged them inside. Gakuto whipped around immediately while snapping at his doubles partner. "Yuushi, what the hell was that for!? We nearly got skewered and now…!"

"_Are you okay,"_ a mild voice asked.

They looked at a little boy standing in front of them and his hand was still firmly gripped to Oshitari's regular's jacket. _"I'm sorry for everything you had to experience, Oshitari-senpai."_

The blue haired kansai boy looked at the young boy who still gripped his jacket and it took him awhile to recognize him. "Ryouji?"

The boy nodded while an innocent smile displayed itself on his face. _"Yeah! You remember me!"_

Oshitari smirked. "How can I forget? You kept pestering Ohtori during practice one time. I was the one who made sure Atobe didn't do anything serious to you, remember?"

Ryouji nodded impishly while blowing a raspberry. _"Ohtori-senpai was late for practice!"_

Gakuto gave Oshitari a weird look. "You mean this is the kid…?"

The blue haired kansai prodigy nodded. "That's right. Sagaraki Ryouji, first year student of Hyotei Gakuen. Funny thing is how is it that both siblings are in the same grade? I remember your sister is a first year in Seigaku right, Ryouji?"

The little boy twiddled with his thumbs while smiling bitterly. _"Nee-san is actually three years older than I am, Yuma-nee-chan is ten years older than Mitsuda-nee-chan. She," _–referring to Mitsuda, Ryouji sighed, _"entered school pretty late because baka-oujouji wouldn't let her. Otou-sama had to sneak her off to school. That was one of the reasons why we loved 'tou-sama so much. He always protected us and then, there was his weird brother…"_

Inui raised an eyebrow at this comment. "Weird brother?"

Ryouji stiffly nodded at the tall data man of Seigaku. _"Mm-hm, 'kaa-san always told us that tou-sama no aniki was always messed up. They said he even had a record in the mental institute somewhere we're just not so sure. He was always jealous of tou-sama. But then again, even Shina-baachan was jealous of kaa-san because tou-sama gave her so much attention. The only ones nice to us were Sayami-chan and Lutana-baa-chan. When kaa-san was away, Lutana-baa-chan always took care of us."_

The four exchanged glances while Inui soon began scribbling whatever Ryouji had said in the notebook. Inui continued to prod. "Tell me, who are the siblings in this family?"

Ryouji looked up while thinking. _"There were so many of them, megane-san. There's Shina-baa-chan, Sayami-baachan and so many more! There were like what, eighteen of them?"_

Inui nodded while scribbling while Kaidoh started to query. "So, who's the insane older brother your dad had?"

The little boy ran behind Oshitari after seeing Kaidoh's face and whimpered. _"You're scary, bandana-san."_

Kaidoh rolled his eyes and Inui continued to scribble down on his notebook. "Tell me, how does this house really look and how does this place even work? Every time we go somewhere, we end up somewhere else. Like some of the doors, they lead to the most unusual of places. Why is that?"

Ryouji shrugged for a moment and then recalled. _"Actually, you should ask Lutana-baa-chan that!"_

The four exchanged glances until they looked at Ryouji again. Oshitari tilted his glasses. "Lutana, as in the one who protected you and one of the mistresses of Yukihisa?"

Ryouji nodded. _"Baa-chan is the one who used to clean up the hallways and the stuff so; she's probably the one who knows the house the best."_

Oshitari threw his hands up with a sigh. "So, basically, all we need to do is to find this Lutana person and then, we'll be able to know how the place functions right?"

Ryouji nodded while he still insisted on tugging on Oshitari. _"Nii-san, we can go this way! I know were Lutana-baa-chan is!"_

Inui put up his glasses. "There's a ninety one percent chance that he will lead us to the right place. However, there's a ninety nine percent chance that we will be attacked again."

Gakuto dismissed Inui's calculations. "Geez, you sound like an actuarian. We'll go with the kid's way. I mean – this is Ryouji's house so we should be able to go around without getting killed right?"

Oshitari looked at Ryouji who had a pleading look on his face. _"Come with me! I'll show you where to go! But, I think you guys should get some sleep so, we could head to my room!"_

Kaidoh gulped while he passed a look to Oshitari. "Will we be alright?"

The kansai prodigy shrugged. "Only one way to find out. Lead the way, Ryouji."

The boy nodded with a grin and held on to Oshitari began to lead him to the other room.

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The data man of Hyotei however was in no such luck as the others. He was completely alone; after his devastating fall, he remembered seeing nothing but darkness. Now, he felt like he was completely immersed in water. When he opened his eyes, he realized then that he was in a very big aquarium. No matter how hard he banged the glass, he couldn't get out. He couldn't open his mouth because that would let the water into his lungs. He tried rising for air but there was no opening and then, he saw a young man standing in front of him with a smirk. Taki tried to get a closer look but his eyes were hurting from the chlorine that was seeping into his eyes. The image from inside was blurry but he saw something silver glinting at him and Taki swam back in order to avoid whatever that sharp object was.

A loud crash rang into the air while the water flooded out unto the floor; spilling Taki with the contents. Coughing violently, Taki proceeded to look around and then, he felt his hand crush something and when he saw it, it was a skull and he drew back; revolted at what he had seen. His body was covered in seaweed and many dark algae plants were crawling over him. Taki began violently kicking until he felt something press against his neck. It wasn't a knife or a blade but rather a suction cup and Taki felt his body go limp. He tried moving a limb but it seemed like it was hopeless. Algae started covering his body and he felt that he was done for until he heard something get chopped off. "You alright?"

Taki looked up with a smile. "Yeah, thanks."

The man helped Taki up while the data man of Hyotei dusted himself. "Thanks, I thought I was done for."

"Algae usually don't attack like that," explained the man, "apparently, they've been going wild a little lately. How did you get here?"

Taki shrugged. "All I remember is being engulfed by something and now, I'm separated from all of them."

The man seemed to know what Taki was talking about. "Them, you mean your friends?"

"Yeah," Taki exclaimed and then gave him an awkward stare, "wait, how did you know that?"

The man recalled. "I remember meeting this magenta haired acrobat and apparently, he was looking for a boy with glasses."

Taki jumped with delight. "That's Gakuto and I'm definitely sure he was looking Oshitari! Did you see which way they went?"

The man pointed out the door. "Down the hallway, kiddo. Just be careful, this house tends to attack people."

Taki nodded while he left. "Thanks, wait, who are you?"

The young man brushed his hair back. "Orishoy. An acquaintance and friend of Yukihisa's. Just passing here to clean up."

The data man of Hyotei nodded. "Thanks! I'll be seeing you!"

While Taki dashed away, Orishoy had smiled inwardly at himself a smile that gleamed with lunacy. "Hm, so that's four. Where are the other thirteen?"

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Kawamura, Jirou, Shishido, Oishi, Momoshiro and Fuji were now somewhere a lot safer. The living room was the only place in the house that wasn't really plagued by haunting or whatsoever. Shishido slumped on to the couch with a sigh. "Damn, I can't believe it. There's no way out of this place and no matter where we go, we end up somewhere weird. We haven't even figured out how this house even works! Dear god, I bet if we bust through a window, we'll end up getting out of a mirror!"

Momoshiro let out a breath of annoyance. "I can't believe those portraits too. They showed so much weird stuff and we don't even know what the hell is going on."

Oishi sighed while he calmed everyone down. "Guys, we need to piece together the information we've found so far. So far, we've found out the extensions of the Kiritsuga Family and also Yuma's side of the story. The thing is – we haven't found the murder weapon or the motive for this to happen. We don't even know where the others are."

Jirou slumped on the couch while letting out a yawn. "Wake me up when you find something."

Shishido kicked him. "Jirou, don't you dare sleep now or so Ohtori help me! My doubles partner just got eaten by some fiery chasm and I don't know whether or not I'm seeing things! He was the only way I could stay in the team! He was like a little brother to me and now, I don't even know what to do!"

Oishi looked away while tears stung his eyes. "Eiji, I hope whatever I saw was just an illusion or a production of my fear."

Fuji looked at his hands and the wounds were still there but he was glad that his fingers remained intact despite the woman he saw somehow cutting and hacking them off. "Well, we should stay here first. Otherwise, we're going to be even more lost."

Kawamura nodded. "I agree, let's just hope we can find whatever we can."

There was a pregnant pause and a very deep silence until a loud cheery voice boomed in. "Oishi!"

The fuku buchou of Seigaku froze; was it an illusion? Was it deceiving him? When he turned around, he saw a puffing Kikumaru who had Echizen hauled over his shoulder who smirked. "Mada mada dane, Oishi-senpai."

Tezuka was there also and Shishido had brightened up when he saw the two taller kohai. Kabaji was lagging behind Atobe while Ohtori sheepishly waved his hand while standing behind the buchou. "Hi Shishido, sorry for making you worry."

Shishido twitched at Ohtori's words; was that all he had to say? Shishido walked up and began shaking the taller kohai. "Ohtori, damn it! I thought you were done for! What the hell happened!? You fell into some fiery chasm and here I was worrying my ass off you! What the hell did you do!?"

Ohtori tried to reply. "Wwwaaait, Iiiii cccan'tttt annsswerrrr rrrrright iiiiif yyyyyouu kkkkkkeeppppp sshhhhhakkking mmmmme!"

Atobe smirked while he saw Shishido shaking the bolts out of Ohtori. "You sound worried."

Shishido scowled with a huff. "Of course I was! I thought this idiot was burnt into fried chicken!"

Tezuka looked at Oishi. "Did you find anything?"

Oishi nodded. "I think we can piece some parts of the puzzle together?"

The bespectacled captain of Seigaku nodded. "Minna, let's get started then."

-That's Chapter 10! Please review!


	11. The Killer is Still Out There

(I don't own Prince of Tennis!)

Chapter 11 – The Killer is Still Out There

Atobe threw himself on a chair; trying to calm himself down while fixing his busted ankle as he began counting. "One, two, three, wait a minute, where the hell is Taki, Oshitari, Gakuto and the two Seigaku Regulars!? I thought we all agreed to meet here!"

Tezuka had a glare that could kill someone. "Where are Inui and Kaidoh?"

They looked around frantically and only to realize that they were hopelessly missing three of Hyotei's regulars and two of Seigaku but right now, they were more scared witless by the fact that they had no way out but they were also half happy by the fact that they were all still alive. Oishi then began to pace around. "So, the motives aren't clear yet but we definitely have a couple of people. We don't even have enough proof though to capture them. So, what did you guys find out so far?"

Atobe drummed his fingers on the table. "Well, one is – the family's insane. Two: someone nearly roasted Tezuka alive, three: all that we're seeing is something that must've happened here and four; the family's a complicated bunch. Ore-sama still doesn't get how this family managed to massacre themselves in one night."

Kikumaru came up with an idea cheerfully. "Maybe they did it in all separate occasions but destroyed the evidence in the same night, nyah!"

They all gave him a duh stare for a moment and the red head acrobat of Seigaku waved his hands dismissively. "Okay, I'll keep quiet."

"Actually," Fuji stated, "that is a good possibility. Fire seems to be the main weapon here. Fire can destroy any trace of evidence; even a DNA sample would be destroyed by flames. That explains why the house was nearly singed into a crisp. However – the questions we need to answer are: who did this? Why they did this? And what exactly happened in this house?"

Momoshiro began scratching his head. "Damn it, I still have no clue on how this whole house works! Every time we take a passage, we just end up somewhere even weirder like how we ended up in the basement full of carcasses! I mean, the bodies," –he shuddered at the memory, "man, they've been defiled like they were just animals!"

Shishido scowled. "What's more is that – it's like they want us dead but they want us to solve something! Can't they make up their minds!?"

Ohtori gulped. "Um, guys, I think I should have told you this but, there was someone who helped out of the well."

They all threw their glance at a drenched Ohtori. "Are you serious? Someone helped you?"

Ohtori nodded numbly. "Yeah, he said his name was Orishoy or something…"

The regulars glanced at each other and then began thinking. Come to think of it, they never came across that guy. Maybe Ohtori just saw a ghost or something which was usually the case since they all just saw something. Fuji broke the silence between them all. "The place is only this dilapidated because of what had happened here. The people that were once in this house are releasing all their pent up aggression on us because they couldn't release it when they were alive. They must have really hated each other then to go that far."

"Or they were extremely money hungry," Atobe muttered while looking around, "That's it. I'm looking for Oshitari and the others. You," –pointing at Tezuka, "better find the other two."

Tezuka didn't need to be told twice on what to do; however, the mystery was what bugged him even more. They couldn't even find the killer and what if the killer was dead? Could it be Yukihisa? "No, there's something missing. How come I can't find it," Tezuka thought in utter frustration.

Fuji arched an eyebrow while coyly asking. "Find out what the missing piece is, Detective?"

Tezuka glared at Fuji. "Fuji," –he didn't exactly need a coy answer right now. But, there was something that he remembered, the knife that Hiyoshi and Atobe had found in the basement. That could be it, that could be one of the missing pieces but, why was it in a person? Why would someone leave it in someone? No one would be able to shove a knife inside a person unless…

"Maa~, it's very rare for you to daze off like that, Tezuka. You seem pretty occupied with the mystery," Oishi tapped his shoulder when Tezuka then realized that the Seigaku regulars were already walking ahead of him.

It was rare for him to daze off like this; he berated himself quietly for being so careless while walking alongside them. Kikumaru bounced around while trying to call out to the others. "Inui, Kaidoh, where are you? Mou," Kikumaru turned around with a sigh, "I didn't know they would get lost this easily, Oishi."

The mother hen of Seigaku tried to encourage the energetic acrobat. "Don't worry, Eiji. I'm sure they're here somewhere," –then all of a sudden, there was heavy thumping and there was something cracking. Oishi turned around. "Tezuka, please tell me that you heard that too."

"Ah," was Tezuka's subtle reply but he couldn't deny the fact that he too heard it. The thumping got even louder and louder and soon, he heard moans in the background. Something in his gut was telling him that there was something there and he mouthed to the Regulars. "Run."

They looked at Tezuka whose eyes widened a little and when they turned around to see what was coming behind him, there was something crawling on the floor. Greenish-blue tinted fingers made their way as they began scraping on the floor. Soon, Fuji began sniffing. "Something's burning…"

Echizen stared in horror as he saw the floor beginning to burn. "Buchou…"

Tezuka didn't waste any time anymore in checking what was burning and grabbed Echizen by the arm and began in a mad sprint. The other regulars didn't waste any other time either and Momoshiro groaned. "Geez, I thought we were safe already! But no, we're still stuck here and we're about to get mushed and burned to death!"

Fire soon began to engulf the place while moans and screams were heard. Echizen started hiss in pain. "No, no, no!"

This wasn't really like the cocky Echizen they knew; Oishi looked at him in concern and he turned to the smaller regular. "Echizen, what happened? What's wrong?"

Echizen began gasping for air and his body started getting heavy. He couldn't feel his body or his limbs, let alone he couldn't even lift his eyelids for they were half closed and his eyes were dulling. Kikumaru grabbed Echizen. "Ochibi, wake up!"

Tezuka wasted no time in hauling Echizen over him despite the biting pain in his left shoulder. Fear reflected in his eyes for the very first time when he actually saw a woman crawling after them. Blood splattered on the walls and soon, Oishi heard barking. "Tezuka, I don't remember there being dogs in here!"

Fuji's blue eyes widened with shock while they saw dogs rising from the ashes with their bloodshot red eyes gleaming with bloodlust. They had their fangs bared out while letting out a very vicious snarl while hounding them down like animals. Kikumaru wailed. "Hoi, hoi, we really got to find those two otherwise we're dog chow! What do we do now, nyah!?"

The dogs slowly gained on them and there came that familiar chain saw whirring sound. They soon heard splashes and found out that now their rubber shoes/sneakers were now smeared in blood while they ran. A man who was more on the heavy side carried a chain saw with a muzzle tightly locked on his face. He wore an apron which was coated with blood while his eyes were a dull yellowish gray. His arms were huge and bulky but that seemed to contradict his actions because soon he began dragging it all over the wall. Kawamura's eyes widened with horror when he saw how deep the chain saw was digging into the wall. "Oh man, he's hell bent in slicing us into two!"

Echizen mumbled. "Down…"

They all took a look at their little pillar of Seigaku who continued to mumble. "Down… hallway…"

Momoshiro was stupefied with what Echizen was muttering but then, there was a dark hallway which seemed even more foreboding than before. The black spiky haired regular gagged. "Are you serious?"

Fuji grabbed Momoshiro and Kikumaru. "We only have one choice!"

Tezuka threw a glance to Oishi who managed to bring Kawamura with him and the flames soon began engulfing the hallway. A sinister laugh echoed in the air and smoke clogged the entire place. Oishi let out a sigh. "Phew, that was close but now, we don't even know where we are."

Momoshiro turned around. "Yeah," he began walking out until he slammed his face first into the wall and then found himself face to face with a wall, "okay, very wrong. What the hell just happened?"

"_Lutana-baa-chan's controlling the place,"_ a childish like voice said.

They took a look at Echizen who was now smiling like an elementary school girl. _"Konichiwa, nii-chan! I'm sorry; I need to borrow his body for awhile!"_

Momoshiro nearly burst out laughing while everyone was prepared to run in case Echizen just found something sharp to hack them all down with. However, the little pillar of Seigaku showed no signs of hostility and instead smiled at Tezuka. _"Don't you remember me, nii-chan?"_

Tezuka recalled the little girl who had the same smile. He could've sworn that she was incinerated but now, here she was inside the body of the younger pillar. "Mayumi-san, right?"

Echizen now had a playful pout. _"Mou~, nii-chan, it's Ma-yu-mi-chan," _–he said in a singsong voice that really belonged to a child, _"you're still okay! I'm sorry I needed to use his body but he was the only one in mind or…"_

"The only one sensitive," Tezuka murmured quietly while looking up at the freshman to ask, "who's Lutana-san if I may ask?"

Fuji recalled. "Someone called me that…"

They all turned to the tensai while Fuji continued to explain. "While I was stuck in some weird dream, someone kept calling me "Lutana". My guess is – she's one of the mistresses in this house and she was badly hit too. We might meet her along the way actually."

"_You've guys already have met her," _squealed the freshman who was possessed by the little girl.

The Seigaku regulars' eyes widened while saying in unison [yes, including the stoic buchou of Seigaku, Tezuka Kunimitsu and except the possessed Echizen]. "Really?"

"_Mm-hm,_" –came the usual childish reply, _"she's been controlling where you go every time! Why do you think you guys are always safe when you end up somewhere else, nii-chan?"_

Tezuka did notice that; many of the regulars did too but they were just too scared witless to admit it or even bother noticing it. Kikumaru pointed at the freshman. "Hoi, how come you have to stay in Ochibi's body? Can you materialize like in the comic books or something?"

The freshman pouted. _"If I try to do that, only onii-chan can see me! Well, not that I mind but, okay! I'll try!"_

A bright light emitted from behind and they found a bright white light standing beside Tezuka but in the bespectacled captain's eyes, a little girl with a teddy bear in a blood stained dress stood next to him while holding on to his hand. She had a cheerful smile on her face and Echizen tapped his buchou's shoulder. "Buchou, you can put me down now."

Tezuka lowered the little pillar of support while Mayumi smiled. _"Thanks for lending me your body, ochibi-chan! Onii-chan, did you know that this place itself is being controlled by Lutana-baa-chan? Also – the knife thingy," _–she pointed to the hilt that was in his regular's jacket, _"you were right. It was a murder weapon!"_

Tezuka twitched at her unforseen cheerfulness; for someone who was dead, she was extremely optimistic and for some strange reason, he couldn't find any logical explanation anymore. "So you knew all this time?"

Mayumi twiddled with her fingers then spoke with such vigor. _"No, I actually remembered just now!"_

The Seigaku Regulars felt that they were even more confused than before. However, Momoshiro decided to break the silence. "Meh, have you seen Mamushi and Inui-senpai?"

Mayumi tilted her head. _"Mamushi and Inui-senpai? Who are they?"_

Oishi sighed while he nudged Momoshiro. "Momo, she doesn't know who they are by nickname. Well, I don't think she has met Inui either. I mean – she clearly knows Tezuka but I doubt she met Inui."

Mayumi's face then brightened up when she somehow managed to recall their faces. _"Oooh, you mean the one with a bandana and the one with glasses who looks like a mad scientist?"_

Kikumaru jumped up and down. "Yeah! Yeah! Where are they, nyah?"

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Atobe and the Hyotei regulars spread out somewhere else to search for Taki, Oshitari and Mukahi. They were so badly confused by the complex structure of the house that they never had time to even notice what was going on. Atobe brushed his hair back in frustration. "We should have found the two by now, nah, Kabaji?"

"Usu," was the bigger kohai's reply.

Ohtori couldn't help but keep glancing at the pictures that had the faces of the Kiritsuga members written all over it. "Shishido-san, did portraits ever cry tears of blood?"

Shishido didn't know where Ohtori was coming up with this but he scowled. "Ohtori, that made you sound like a dweeb, of course not! Portraits aren't even living…huh?"

Then, that's when they began to notice that one of the portraits was crying tears of blood. It was a picture of a young woman with a faint smile across her face. At first, her face seemed to reveal a hint of sadness and happiness when suddenly, it began to distort and her face now showed a maniacal grin with a cracked skull flashing its red eyes at them and black hands began stretching out of the portrait reaching for Hiyoshi. "Damn," cursed the Hyotei sophomore ace regular while jumping out of the way, "I didn't know portraits would reach out and try to grab you!"

Atobe's face paled for the very first time in his life. "Everyone, make a break for it and don't look back nor look at the portraits!"

The Hyotei regulars broke into a sprint while a maniacal laugh echoed in their ears. Screams were heard and most of them were in agony. The Hyotei team felt that their ears would split until they found a door swinging open. A hand seemed to beckon them in and Ohtori was the first to take notice of it. "Shishido-senpai, Atobe-senpai, look!"

The two third year students saw the hand beckoning them to come in and Shishido was very defiant when he remembered the time he went inside the portrait room with the bird bath in it. "No way, no way in hell am I going in there!"

Atobe didn't want to argue with the capped half of the silver pair so it was second nature for him to bark orders at the huge kohai. "Kabaji, grab Shishido! Hiyoshi, Ohtori, follow ore-sama inside the room!"

Kabaji though reluctant due to his last experience with Taki but despite his huge size managed to grab Shishido [well, he isn't too tall for a third year either so, it was easy for Kabaji] while Ohtori and Hiyoshi sprinted faster while the shadowy black hands seemed to grab after them. The moment everyone got inside, Atobe grabbed the handle and shut the door. He breathed in relief while trying to recompose himself inside and trying to keep his fear under control. "Alright, everyone here?"

Shishido grumbled. "With someone as big as Kabaji dragging you, I don't see why I should say yeah."

Ohtori replied cheerfully. "We're all inside, Atobe-senpai."

Hiyoshi muttered to give a little recognition. "Gekokujou…"

Kabaji replied with his usual saying. "Usu."

The king of Hyotei couldn't help but slump on the floor when he heard a flashing sound. "What was that?"

Ohtori heard it also. "I don't like the sound of that, Atobe-senpai. Shishido-senpai, where are you?"

"I'm here, Ohtori. I'm next to Kabaji who's next to Atobe," Shishido replied trying to mask the fact that he too was terrified by the shuttering noise.

Hiyoshi looked around. "How come it sounded like a camera?"

The lights glared at them when they found themselves on a colourful wheel. Shishido had a nasty feeling in his gut but he wasn't sure if it was right or wrong. "What in the world is this for?"

"_Welcome, this is my play room,"_ a voice seductively chided.

They looked up and saw a woman with a seductive smile. She had knives in her hand while she brushed them against her red lips. _"I'm glad you entered here. I mean – I didn't want Hitoma getting all the fun for herself. So, I hope you have fun in here, my dear boys. Oh," _–she looked at their uniform, _"you were friends with Ryouji?"_

Atobe looked at his regular's jersey which was now stained with blood and many other things he didn't want to know what. "Ore-sama would never associate himself with---!"

Before Atobe could say anything else offensive, Ohtori spoke up immediately. "Yes! Do you know where he is? If so, please take us to him!"

No one had ever dared to interrupt Atobe like that but now the woman's smile became more malicious. _"So, you're Ohtori Choutarou. First Violin?"_

They were scared witless when they discovered that she knew what position Ohtori was in the musical orchestra. The silver haired boy nodded weakly; unsure of what to say. "Y-yes."

The woman smiled weakly while her face slowly turned into resentment. "He always talked about his senpai. "Ohtori-senpai this", "Ohtori-senpai that", for him to keep yapping like that, he must have held you with high regard, boy. He also mentioned an "Atobe-senpai" midway when I started…"

"Started what," Shishido was almost afraid to ask.

A maniacal grin appeared on her face. "When I used him as a human target and when I decided to splash some oil on him and set him ablaze!"

She cackled into the musty air and the Hyotei Regulars noticed that the wheel started spinning and spikes started to protrude from the floor. Shishido dodged one while looking around at the blinking lights. "Damn, she wasn't kidding! Since Ryouji's not here, we're her human targets now!"

Atobe moved away from another flying knife and noticed whenever the knife landed somewhere, that place started to burn. He began looking around for a place to climb out when he found knives being thrown in different directions. "This is more Mukahi's thing," muttered the king of Hyotei, "he would've been having fun if this involved bungee jumping!"

The woman cackled while her eyes blazed bloodshot red. "How do you like my Russian Roulette? Such a fun game isn't it? You're going to get burned either way so, why don't you guys just DIE?"

Hiyoshi ducked as one zipped past his head. "No thank you, I like how my head is now: no holes and basically not on fire."

Another knife zipped past them and Kabaji managed to side step to avoid it. By then, half the circle was already on fire. Atobe leapt high in the air to dodge the blade that nearly sliced his legs off. Ohtori was fast enough to lie on the ground as it zipped past him. Shishido was light enough to stand on the blade and Kabaji just leaned against the wall despite it being able to tear through his regular's jersey. The woman saw their resistance and a sardonic smile came into play. "YES! IF THERE'S SOMETHING THAT'S FUN, IT'S CHASING AND TORTURING A BUNCH OF BRATS! BUT WHAT'S EVEN MORE EXCITING IS WHEN THOSE LITTLE BRATS SHOW A HINT OF RESISTANCE TOWARDS YOU! I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR YOU SCREAM PATHETICALLY FOR YOUR LIVES!"

The wheel whirled even faster and faster while the regulars avoided buzz saws that were aimed towards them while flames began to dance towards them. Atobe's icy eyes searched for a place of escape but he didn't notice that a blade was aimed straight for his head. Shishido kicked Atobe in the shins. "Oi, don't just stand there!"

Atobe was forced down while he glowered at Shishido. "Arn~, what's the big idea in kicking Ore-sama?"

Shishido rolled his eyes and pointed out. "You damn idiot, you could've lost your head and we'll be captain-less unless you want Oshitari to replace you!"

The king of Hyotei twitched at Shishido's statement while Ohtori saw a door. "Hey, look up there, guys!"

Shishido saw the door also and grumbled. "Damn, we can't get out unless we jump high enough which I don't think we can because this thing keeps turning!"

Then, by a sudden change of luck, the wheel started slowing down and the woman began shrieking hysterically. Ohtori let out a sigh of relief. "Luck must be on our side today."

Atobe glanced at Kabaji who understood what he was trying to tell him and hauled him up followed by tossing up Shishido and Ohtori then climbed up some time after but the woman sent more flaming knives their way. Her shriek echoed in the air. "You won't get away, you little brats!"

They ducked as a flaming knife soon set the door ablaze and the whirling wheel soon became a pool of boiling oil. Ohtori's eyes widened with horror while Shishido grabbed Ohtori's arm. "Well, we'll just have to ignore the fact that the door is on fire!"

Ohtori was dragged by Shishido who soon found himself being dragged by someone else. Kabaji followed after Atobe while they all ended up tumbling in and landing on top of each other. "Ow," growled the capped boy, "I didn't expect to roll in here especially with you on top of me!"

A cheerful voice sounded out. _"We saved them, Oshitari-nii-san!"_

Atobe thought. "Oshitari-nii…? Oh, you," he looked up at the smirking kansai prodigy.

Oshitari shrugged. "I didn't know Ryouji knew the way into your place. I guess it was more like by mere chance."

Gakuto cried out in joy. "Great! We're all back together except Taki! Even Kabaji is here! So, where are the Seigaku guys?"

Atobe snorted while dusting himself. "Ore-sama went off to find you two and Taki! Where the hell have you guys been," he heard a familiar hiss n the background, "That's Kaidoh isn't it?"

Gakuto growled. "Ya think?"

Inui appeared with his notebook in hand. "There was a ninety percent chance that you would end up tumbling in here, Atobe."

The king twitched at Seigaku's mad man while Ohtori gulped. "So, who else is here?"

"_Me!" _A kiddie voice sounded off behind them.

They found first year student Sagaraki Ryouji with a huge grin on his face. _"Oshitari nii-san and all the Hyotei Regulars are here! Yay! Now, I get to explain the story to you guys without you guys being scared witless!"_

Atobe's arrogance still remained. "Che, ore-sama's hardly afraid of anything."

Shishido stifled his laughter at the sound of that. "How about the flaming knives?"

The king had half the mind to swat Shishido in the face. "It's perfectly normal to be terrified by something that will set you on fire."

Shishido smirked. "But you just said that you were hardly afraid of anything."

Atobe rolled his eyes; Shishido just had to make a smart comeback at him all the time. But he wasn't concerned about that now; what was important was they get new information and piece everything together. "So, who exactly was that in the room?"

Ryouji just shrugged. _"I don't know all the ladies in the house! I only know Shina-baa-chan, Lutana-baa-chan," _he slowly began enumerating.

Their eyes grew wider when the list seemed to be more than fifty. Oshitari then stopped him. "Okay, I don't think we want the list to get even longer now do we? Now, who are the other family members? Can you at least give us their personality so we can tell what the hell they're going to throw at us next?"

Ryouji thought for awhile. _"There's Tenjou-oji, he always liked doing magic tricks and he always did it in the dining room or even the ballroom. His wife, Shira-baa-chan was always there to help him."_

"That must've been the idiot who used Kikumaru as a cork board, nearly turned Hiyoshi into a wax figure and nearly roasted my rival alive," mumbled the purple haired captain of Hyotei.

Gakuto's face became in pure horror. "You mean my rival nearly turned into a cork board!?"

Atobe let out a sigh of annoyance. "Apparently, other than that, the only thing that was more disgusting than that was the fact that they were going to tear the brat in pieces and eat his entrails," then he stopped for a moment when he got one of those "you're-crazy-go-see-a-doctor" look.

Shishido groaned while suppressing his urge to vomit. "Disgusting, that was way too graphic."

"It was worse when you were the one witnessing it," retorted Atobe.

Ryouji tugged on Oshitari's jacket. _"Ne, senpai, I think there's something I should show you…"_

Oshitari didn't know what he was referring to but he turned heel to follow the boy who was holding the handle of a door. The moment it was opened, he couldn't tell what was there but all he knew was his eyes widened with what he just saw.

-That's Chapter 11! Please review!


	12. Hunted Down

(I don't own Prince of Tennis!)

Chapter 12 – Hunted Down

Mayumi walked alongside the Seigaku Regulars down the hallway. She skipped merrily while to some of the regulars, she was a ball of light while to Echizen and Tezuka, she was a little girl. The cat eyed tennis prodigy watched her skip along while he had the sudden urge to ask. "How old are you anyway?"

Mayumi stopped for a moment while she paused to think. "Hm… you know, I don't really remember. I just remember that I was supposed to go to Seishun Gakuen for Middle School!"

The regulars exchanged glances with each other; the girl was only an elementary school girl and yet, she was killed and they didn't even know who killed her. Echizen gave her a quizzical look. "So, you're around ten I guess, am I right?"

The girl's pigtails bounced a little while she continued walking. "Yep, but, I died before I even graduated so, here I am!"

Oishi felt sad for the little girl; she was so cheerful to the point she looked like that she was oblivious to the fact that she was dead. "Mayumi-chan, are you sure you know where you're going," the mother hen of Seigaku was feeling a little uneasy seeing portraits lining the hallway with suits of armor that stood like a battalion. The hallway was so deserted and quiet that everyone was slowly having their hairs standing on their ends due to the silence. Kikumaru could feel the weird sensation in the air. "Mou~, Oishi, the hallway's scary, nyah!"

The little girl smiled cheekily. "Don't worry; as long as I'm with you, nothing's gonna happen!"

Tezuka and Echizen were the only ones who had known her because they met her recently and she was quite the ghost. Seeing that she was floating by without a care, the tennis prodigy nudged his senpai. "Momo-senpai, do you think we'll make it out alive?"

Momoshiro shrugged but made up his mind about something. "I don't know but if I make it out alive, I'll go straight to the burger joint and eat twenty burgers! I'm deprived!"

Echizen sniggered at his senpai's reaction however he had noticed Fuji no longer was getting all sadistic, his time in the house was horrific. He noticed that the tensai senpai of the Seigaku team was tracing his hand and kept looking at it every minute. He also noticed that Kikumaru was getting all fidgety when things started to close in. "Wait a minute; walls don't close in, don't they?"

Mayumi looked at the walls while her eyes widened. "RUN!"

They all bolted forward while heading off towards the nearest pathway. With his heart beating wildly, Oishi noticed the paint melting off the portraits while they heard loud metal clanging. Kawamura's wide eyes just confirmed his fears: the suits of armor came alive and began marching. Some swung with an axe and some even pitched javelins. Oishi ducked while running as fast as his body could carry him. "Where's the next door?"

Kikumaru leapt over another one while trying to make sure that his hair was not shaved. "Nyah~, this is so scary! We don't even know where to go, nyah!"

Mayumi began tapping frantically the bespectacled teen's shoulder when finally; Tezuka noticed a door that Mayumi was pointing to when the wall started bubbling for some strange reason. The wood started curling up and peeling itself off the wall and this was their only choice, Tezuka couldn't see any farther pathway and they would die or get caught into something more incredulous if they didn't take this pathway. "Minna, in here," he pointed at the door.

The Seigaku regulars wasted no time in running towards the door. Kikumaru ran in dragging a limping Echizen, Fuji followed in while Kawamura dashed in with a wild Oishi while Tezuka firmly shut the door while Mayumi somehow managed to make it inside. The Seigaku Regulars slumped to the floor while they were surrounded by a heavy blanket of darkness which concealed everything except Mayumi's bright aura and mute silence. Mayumi's eyes widened however at where they were. _"Oh no, I know this room! Everyone, please find another way out!"_

They didn't like the tone of her voice when Kikumaru's eyes widened. "Wh-why?"

Then they heard something ignite and they found something blazing in the air: three sixes in one line. The Seigaku regulars didn't know nor did they want to know what in the world those sixes meant. However, after reading a lot of novels, Tezuka's eyes widened a little with his face becoming pale and because one of the other tennis members had stayed in America, Echizen knew very well what those meant. Both pillars' hearts raced at what they were seeing when the whole room suddenly lit up. Chains were hanging up on the wall while they heard something grinding on something that was metal as they noticed sparks flying. Kawamura's eyes widened while he tapped Fuji on the shoulder. "F-Fujiko-chan…?"

The blue eyed tensai was just as shocked as he was. There was a man tying something up while they all heard loud shrieks. Blood splattered on the floor while some body parts had rolled near them. Echizen held his mouth closed to make sure he wouldn't upchuck whatever he had before he entered the house. Kikumaru clung on to Oishi and vice versa for the mother hen of Seigaku while Momoshiro clung on to Kawamura in deep fright. The man had his tongue dangling out while slobber had fallen down while his sclera was dilated like he was overdosed with many drugs. He waved his butcher knife in the air. _"Welcome! Why don't you all join me for a little feast? Oh wait a minute, you are my feast!"_

He threw the butcher knife which would have nearly pierced Momoshiro's head if not for Kikumaru's fast reflexes as an acrobat. Echizen felt his heart pump wildly while his throat ran dry. He tried to make an effort to scramble to his feet but he couldn't. The man walked towards them while they noticed that something was dripping behind him. Then, they heard a disgusting and sickening thump when they saw the thing that had dropped to the floor while being dragged. It was his intestines; stretching itself like a long snake while the rest of his entrails followed after. His yellowish teeth were sharpened like a wolf's fangs while he made steps towards them. His eyes and face showed a psychotic smile while he pulled out a pair of scissors. _"What if I cut you open one by one? While you still live, I'll cut open your stomachs, bury my face into your blood soaked bowels and eat up whatever organ you have. I will sink my teeth into your flesh while a lap up every ounce of your blood while I savour your organs, the rest can go to the dogs!"_

Mayumi's eyes widened with horror. _"This is Tarou-sama! He's tou-sama's oldest brother!"_

The red headed feline acrobat gulped. "Please tell me he's the insane one, nyah!"

Tezuka looked at him carefully and then looked at the latter's weapon of choice. "This isn't the guy," he muttered while trying to asses the situation, "there's someone else here and he's the killer. Though he does somehow fit the description, it seems too obvious."

Oishi looked at Tezuka and he felt that the buchou of Seigaku was rapidly coming up with a plan. "Tezuka, do you have any idea?"

The bespectacled captain of Seigaku remembered what had happened the last time his grandfather had trained him. The moment he got home, the old man swung a kendo stick at him while he was lucky enough to duck. The old man however had swept him off his feet while Tezuka remembered kissing the pavement in his house.

"_Hold your ground til the last moment. Wait for your prey and it will come to you," _the words echoed in his mind.

Tezuka managed to get up while holding the knob. "Minna, jump out of the way when I give you the signal."

Fuji understood what his best friend was now getting at and he himself steeled himself for the worst. The team placed their trust in their captain as always and waited for the worst blow. The man's smile became even wider and more sadistic as he charged towards him. The tennis players waited for the right moment when they heard the signal. "Now."

Kikumaru rolled in between the man's feet while the others side stepped while Tezuka had to shove the door open and Fuji shut it right away right after the man had fallen out. The Seigaku players breathed heavily while Mayumi sighed while looking down apologetically. _"I'm sorry; it was the wrong pathway again! This time, I'm sure we'll be out just fine!"_

Tezuka adjusted his glasses while Oishi and the others gathered their breath. Fuji looked around while the chains seemed to clank against the wall until he saw a lever hanging on the wall. "This place, it seems manually operated."

Walking towards it, the blue eyed tensai pulled down the lever and the whirring stopped while the Seigaku regulars looked at the disgusting sight. This time, Echizen found another door. "Buchou, think that door would have something to eat us behind it?"

Tezuka walked towards the door while telling the others. "Get ready to run just in case," he placed his hand on the knob.

His body felt frozen while even his hands were completely clammy and wet because of what they had recently gone through. His heart's thumping could be loudly heard in his ears while he could feel some of his team members' anxiety. The regulars anxiously waited what was beyond the door when Kikumaru wailed. "Open the door!"

Finally gathering the courage to open the rusted knob, Tezuka managed to pull the knob while the door creaked eerily while allowing some bugs and spiders to crawl out from the eaten away wood frame of the door. Oishi looked inside and gulped. "Is it safe? Nothing's there right?"

Tezuka just took in a deep breath while massaging his temples. "Yudan sezu ni ikou, minna."

The regulars nodded weakly while Fuji and Tezuka, seeing that they were the only two who didn't look like they were scared witless entered the room. The honey haired tensai passed a look to his buchou. "Saa~, Tezuka, this is a really enthralling mystery. I'm surprised that we haven't found much."

Soon, the other regulars followed after the other two and they found themselves in a dark room once again. Tezuka didn't reply to Fuji's comment while trying to search for a switch until he felt his leg hit something and someone yell. "Ow, who's there!?"

The light flashed on when the Seigaku regulars discovered that they had found Taki, Hyotei's data man in one room. The room looked like a simple bed room while the door suddenly slammed on them. Momoshiro dashed for the door and tried yanking it. "Oh damn, we're locked in!"

Taki sighed. "I thought you guys were Atobe or something. How did you guys manage to get here anyway?"

"_I lead them here," _squealed a girl who was half Taki's size, _"I think it was more like luck thought, data-chan!"_

Taki however, not being as spiritually sensitive as the others did not hear Mayumi's call. Echizen shrugged while replying nonchalantly. "We just ended up here. How about you?"

Taki groaned while taking a seat on the bed. "Apparently, while trying to find Atobe, I ended up opening doors one after the others and found nothing. But this place is a slaughter house; did you see what else they had in here? It's like we're sitting in a dump site for dead humans and carcasses!"

They all gave him a duh stare while Momoshiro whined a thought that all the Seigaku regulars had. "Ya think!?"

Taki looked around for a way out while ignoring Momoshiro's whine. "So, where do you think Atobe is?"

Echizen smirked. "Monkey-king's probably caught somewhere again. He's probably wailing like a girl after running away from a ghost."

Taki wanted to rebut Echizen's insult but decided not to. "Did you guys find any information?"

Kikumaru shrugged. "We're just looking for Kaidoh and Inui nyah! But, we didn't find much except the guy who tried to sliver us was one of the older brother's nyah!"

Taki opened one of the small pocket notebooks he had kept in his regular's jacket pocket. "Kiritsuga Tarou, you mean?"

The red head nodded and while the Seigaku regulars were talking, Fuji had noticed that Echizen had his eyes locked unto something. "Saa~, Echizen, what's wrong?"

The golden eyes of Echizen moved analytically while soon, he discovered who was on the portrait he was staring at. "It can't be… can it?"

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Oshitari swore while looking at the floor. "I swear, I think I'm gonna puke."

Atobe's icy blue pools focused on the scene that was there and no matter how much he detested the scene, he couldn't find a way how to tear his sight off it. When Ryouji had opened the door, it looked like a musty attic with the smell of blood and rotten eggs overpowering the air. The room was dusty but inside were treasure caskets some even having bones hanging out of them. The locks were rusted and the floor looked like it was about to collapse if they ever set foot into it. The window glared with a bright red light from outside. The sky as they could see was somehow tainted red no one knows why. Blood coated the floor while it seeped into some cracks of wood while many weapons hung around the place. It was loaded with junk while the floor seemed to hold it up. Ohtori gulped. "Do you think… that there's something to eat us when we get in there?"

"Well," Shishido shrugged, "if one tried to turn us into burning shishkababs the first time, I think they're running out of ideas. What could possibly go wrong either than us falling through the floor?"

Gakuto [Sorry, I've gotten used to calling him that.] clung on to Oshitari. "Hey Yuushi, maybe we should stay here seeing that… WE'RE NOT GOING TO GET EATEN ALIVE IF WE DO STAY HERE!?"

Kaidoh himself was freaked out but he didn't want to show that to a rival team. Inui was busily jotting down notes about their rivals school while trying to asses the situation. "There's a ninety one point thirty three percent chance that we will meet someone from the Kiritsuga family again if we step foot into that room, ii data."

Atobe felt a vein bulge at the back of his head; of all people, why did he have to be stuck with Seigaku's data man? He was starting to prefer to be stuck with Tezuka or even Echizen for once because among the regulars, no one had creeped him out more than Inui Sadaharu and the worse part for him was that he was stuck with Seigaku's viper, Kaidoh Kaoru. However there was something to distract him from that fact, he didn't understand how this place would lead towards a musty old attic and how this place worked. Shishido took a step forward. "Let's have a look then."

The Hyotei regulars cautiously took a step in while the wood creaked at every step they took. Ryouji floated over to Shishido. _"Hey, you're Shishido-san right?"_

The capped regular gave him a duh stare. "Why? So what if I am?"

Ryouji gave him an impish smile while giving him thumbs up. _"You're going to be a great tennis player one day!"_

Shishido's smile then became bittersweet while scratching his head. "Thanks. But really – what is this place?"

The first year mournfully bowed his head while tears slipped from his pale face. _"This is where nee-san, nee-chan and I used to live."_

Atobe was appalled by the living conditions. "Here? Even ore-sama can't stand it in here! It smells like rotten fish and eggs!"

Kabaji tapped Atobe on the shoulder. "There's spoiled food…"

The icy blue eyed king of Hyotei looked at the trash can full of food that the big kohai was pointing at. True enough, there was spoiled food in it and there were even some torn pillows. Oshitari examined them. "These look like they've been stabbed through. How did this happen?"

The boy floated next to Oshitari who was examining the other objects inside. He even opened a treasure chest and a skull had rolled out of it. "Ick, what was that?"

Ryouji took a look at the skull while observing it carefully. "This is… mama's…"

The kansai prodigy's eyes widened while he stared at the boy with shocked eyes. "You have to be kidding me right? That can't be her skull…"

Gakuto gulped while tugging his collar. "Please tell me that there's nothing here…!"

Ryouji nodded while giving him a reply with an innocent smile. "Okay, there's nothing here unless you consider junk as something."

The magenta haired acrobat rolled his eyes. "Haha, very funny. I didn't mean that, brat!"

"Sorry," came the apologetic reply from the freshman student.

Ohtori and Shishido began searching and found nothing. Kaidoh and Inui were also looking for things but they couldn't find much. The black haired data man of Seigaku was walking around until he stepped on something sticky. Lifting his rubber shoes, he found something red and gooey stuck to it. Managing to balance on one foot, Inui began jotting down data. "A murder can be committed somewhere even in the smallest places. There is now some unknown substance stuck to my shoes," due to the fact that he had already dealt with gross things, Inui managed to pick it up with his bare hands while the Hyotei tennis players nearly fainted with what he was doing.

Kaidoh took a look at it. "Inui-senpai, what's that?"

Inui examined it while even putting it in his mouth. The Hyotei regulars gasped and this time felt sick while they watched Inui figure out what the substance was. "It's blood from someone. Whoever this belongs to had a very high in iron, very low in Vitamin A and a very high calcium diet, ii data…"

Atobe felt like puking. "How can someone just shove some unknown substance into their mouth!?"

Oshitari and Gakuto just stared at Seigaku's data man while the latter spoke to Ryouji. "Who else lived in this room, Sagaraki-san? I'd like to know who else lived in this room."

Ryouji shrugged. "Well, it was just Mitsuda, Yuma-mama and I. Why?"

Inui wrote down whatever the Hyotei freshman was saying while he looked around and instructing his kohai. "Kaidoh, do you think you can check what's at the top pile?"

The snake boomerang specialist nodded while cracking his neck before making a head start. Leaping high, Kaidoh managed to clamber up the junk while Gakuto laughed haughtily. "Hell, acrobats is more my thing. Step aside, Seigaku. Let me show you how it's done!"

Without any effort at all, Gakuto sailed over the junk and began throwing things on to the ground while Kaidoh managed to catch it. "Teme! Don't keep throwing things around some of it might even be evidence for the crime scene! Fsssh!"

Gakuto however ignored his yelling while he continued to dig for things. Ohtori then got hit by a little black box right on the head. "Ow, Mukahi-senpai!"

The magenta haired acrobat smiled sheepishly while apologizing to the taller kohai. "Sorry bout that, Chouta. Have to find some stuff here y'know."

Shishido picked up the box that had ricocheted off Ohtori's head and opened it. "What the hell is this…?"

The Hyotei Regulars plus the two Seigaku regulars, Inui and Kaidoh swarmed around Shishido while he started unfolding pieces of paper. Inside, it was a bunch of cheques. Ohtori's eyes widened. "Look at all the zeroes! They're almost as rich as Atobe-senpai!"

Atobe couldn't help but agree yet his arrogance still overshadowed it. "Che, ore-sama can make sure that cheque has no spaces for another zero."

Rolling his eyes, Shishido checked the names written who it was supposedly paid to. "Kiritsuga Yukihisa, paid to cash, paid to whoever this is," –squinting his eyes to read the faded font but no avail, "Gekidasa daze. I can barely even read the handwriting of whoever wrote this. It's so mushed up and wet that the ink faded."

Ohtori also took a peek at the box and unrolled a long piece of paper. "Hey, what's this?"

Hiyoshi took a look at it while handing it to Atobe. "Oi."

Atobe took a look at it and saw the list of names, many were crossed out and the only thing they had in common was the fact that they were all women. "Che, some useless list," he muttered while tossing the paper.

However, Kaidoh got it and looked through it. "Hey, Inui-senpai, do you think…?"

The data man of Seigaku nodded. "Yes, Fuji and the others might have some information about this."

While they were busy engrossed at their find, they heard something thumping and the door slammed shut. Gakuto whipped around while jumping on to the back of the kansai prodigy. "Yip, what was that!? Yuushi, please tell me that was the wind!"

Oshitari gulped and wished the same. "I wish I could but unfortunately – all the windows were closed, Gakuto. There was no wind in here to begin with."

Then, they heard wood splintering and they saw something glimmering. Atobe snapped his fingers like second instinct. "Kabaji, bar the door!"

The big kohai picked up a table and threw it at the door which blocked the knob from being able to turn. The light glimmered again and it didn't take a rocket genius to figure out what that thing was. Hiyoshi's eyes widened while he saw the thing hacking through the door. "Damn, an axe!"

Ohtori and Shishido got a chair and blocked the knob while Kabaji began piling more things. Ryouji looked around frantically searching for an exit. _"There's no door!"_

The Hyotei regulars nor the Seigaku data pair didn't want to hear that but soon, the hacking came into an untimely halt. There was a deadly silence that filled the air while the tennis players didn't want to even make a single sound. They all looked at the door anxiously; hoping that nothing would barge in until they heard something whirring like a machine. Kaidoh's eyes widened. "Chain saw!"

Hiyoshi threw his hands up in the air out of frustration. "Chain saw??? How many do they have in this house!?"

Then, under Ohtori's feet, the silver haired kohai felt something crack beneath him. "Um, Shishido-senpai?"

The capped regular noticed the floor giving out also but they didn't expect it to cave in almost immediately. The two boys fell with Shishido holding on to Ohtori while the silver haired kohai was being held on to by Kabaji. "Kabaji, you're a life saver," hollered Shishido from below.

However, because Kabaji himself was not on stable ground, soon, the floor began to crack. Atobe noticed it right away while grabbing Ohtori's arm and yanking him up as well. "Damn, we're stuck in a room with no way out."

Inui looked around and then at the floor. "There is a ninety five percent chance that the cracking of the floor is our way out."

The Hyotei regulars gave him a droll stare while they all chorused at the same time. "INUI, ARE YOU INSANE!?"

Kaidoh seemed to feel the same way. "Unless you got enough power to make another door in the wall then I suggest you do it!"

Ryouji stopped midway until he felt something. _"He's right! Mad scientist-san is right! Lutana-baa-chan is showing you a way out! Kabaji-senpai, Atobe-senpai, let go of Shishido-san and Ohtori-senpai!"_

The king of Hyotei stared at the boy. "Are you crazy? They'll fall to their deaths and who is this damn Lutana-baa-chan that you keep--!"

Before he could protest more, the floor gave out and five of the Hyotei regulars fell. Gakuto freaked out. "Ohtori, Atobe! Minna!"

Oshitari grabbed Gakuto by the arm. "Looks like we have no choice. We'll have to gamble on your chances, Inui!"

The black haired Seigaku data gatherer nodded while Kaidoh agreed with his plan. Hiyoshi was grabbed by Oshitari while Ryouji told them. _"I can stay here. It's okay."_

Oshitari stared at him as if he was crazy. "Why? Come on!"

Ryouji shook his head sadly. _"I can't leave this house no matter what I do. Let alone this room. I will bide you time, Oshitari-senpai. Please solve the mystery! I'm sure you and Atobe-senpai can find the killer who murdered all of us so we can all rest in peace!"_

Oshitari though very reluctant to leave the kohai, he jumped down anyway while Hiyoshi screamed. "NOT AGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIN!"

Tears trickled the pale boy's face while he faced the door with a resolve. _"I won't let you stop Oshitari-senpai and Ohtori-senpai!"_

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"It can't be, can it," Echizen thought to himself while staring at the painting.

Fuji looked at the painting while trying to dust it. "Saa~, if only I was tall enough then I would be able to dust the painting."

Momoshiro yanked away from the cobwebs that stuck to him while moving around. "Man, there's so much of this stuff. Besides, how long have we been here? Buchou, can you ask that floating little light next to you?"

Tezuka checked his watch and realized that it wasn't working. "Mayumi-chan," –he felt that the regulars were thinking that he was crazy, "how long have we been here?"

Mayumi looked around for a clock and when she couldn't find one, she shrugged. _"I don't know. I think you've been here for three days."_

Oishi then began panicking. "Oh man, oh man! What if our parents are looking for us? Our cellphones don't even work and we're trapped in here! There going to send a police force to look for us especially because we have Hyotei travelling around with us! What if we die here and," he continued ranting until Kikumaru tapped Oishi on the shoulder, "Oishi, it's okay! We're not going to die," the red head optimistically spoke while holding up a 'v' sign.

The fuku buchou of Seigaku somehow managed to calm himself down while he turned to Kikumaru. "Hey, Eiji. How come I had a vision that said you died?"

Kikumaru's eyes began to water. "I died? I… nyaaaaaaaaaaaah! I'm a ghost!"

However, that just denied Oishi's suspicion while he tried to calm down his partner. "I don't mean that, Eiji! Calm down! I just had a weird vision," however the red head wouldn't stop, "nyaaaaaaaaaaaah! I'm a ghost! I'll never be able to go home! I won't be able to hug Ochibi anymore," his eyes really began looking like a fountain.

Tezuka felt a migraine building up when he finally decided to make Kikumaru shut up. "Kikumaru, if you don't stop whining and we get out of this alive, you're doing ninety laps the first thing we do when we get back to school!"

Kikumaru instantly snapped his mouth shut when he heard Tezuka's threat while Taki sighed inwardly to himself. "I'm glad Atobe doesn't do that to me."

Momoshiro gulped while looking around. "Hey guys, do you hear that…?"

They heard a loud thumping and everyone knew that wasn't good. They felt their bodies tingle with horror when they found the source of it all, behind a door. Momoshiro gulped. "Who's opening the door, guys?

They all stared at Momoshiro as if he was stupid or something and the black haired dunk smasher shakily put his hand on the door and slowly opened it.

-That's chapter 12! Please review!


	13. Trying To Solve A Dead End

(I don't own Prince of Tennis!)

Chapter 13 – Trying To Solve a Dead End

Momoshiro closed his eyes waiting for the worst until he heard someone grumble at him. "You look like we're about to eat you or something."

"Che, he's always been a peach butt," sounded out the other voice.

Now, Momoshiro knew these voices too well to forget. "Hey, you're in one piece, Shishido," –he glared at his rival with a mocking laugh; "I see you're not that scared after all, Mamushi! Or maybe you're about to wet your pants!?"

Kaidoh and Momoshiro then began another argument while Atobe walked over to Tezuka. "It seems you found Taki for us, arn~."

Tezuka simply stated. "Thank you for finding Kaidoh and Inui," he was in no mood to hear what else had happened to Hyotei otherwise it would be a lecture.

Atobe raised an eyebrow. "It seems like you also found the little girl, Tezuka. Ore-sama never realized that you were popular with ghosts."

The bespectacled captain of Seigaku knew that he was referring to Mayumi who had been following him everywhere. He had to admit; it was because of her that they haven't been in some weird perilous situation yet. Echizen was still bugged by the portrait he saw. "Why was he on the painting? But – I haven't seen him in awhile. But, how is he related to this family anyway?"

Fuji saw Oshitari and Gakuto sprawled out on the floor after they had jumped from so high. "Saa~, where have you boys been?"

The blue haired kansai prodigy drawled. "Would you believe we jumped from three storeys high," he smirked with his famous accent.

Kikumaru stared at Gakuto for a moment until he started hooting with laughter. "Gakuto, you look like you peed in your pants!"

The magenta haired acrobat from Hyotei growled. "Hey, shut it! I bet you would look the same if you jumped from three storeys high!"

Hiyoshi on the other hand was now getting used to what they were doing. How many times have they jumped off from a very high place? He wasn't even sure if he was suffering from trauma or what not. However, he managed to feel out his legs despite jumping from that height. "Gekokujou," was all he managed to say.

Atobe looked at where they are and then brushed his hair back with a sigh. "Ore-sama's ankle hurts all because someone yanked it out and now – we don't even have a lead! We only know the family members but we don't even have a way on how to tell who's who. Ore-sama thinks that we should just all head back into the living room and somehow find a telephone and get out of here."

Echizen sniggered. "Are you admitting you're afraid, monkey king?"

Atobe glared while snarling. "Arn~, as if ore-sama will ever be afraid!"

Oishi looked at the stuff they had and began recapping while trying to calm down both parties. "Okay, let's check what we have so far. We know there's been a mass murder here and we have several suspects which would be those who lived here in this house. But we have one problem: who lived here and who had the motive to do all this? Another question is why he did it or for what purpose."

Fuji recalled seeing a lever in the room they were in. "I remember that there was a lever which means one thing – this place is manually operated. Someone's here and he wants to make sure that we don't come out alive. However, the suspects only known in this case are the family members of the Kiritsuga family which are mostly comprised of Kiritsuga Yukihisa's siblings and their families. We have too wide a range of suspects and we don't even have a method on how to narrow it down."

Tezuka took out the hilt and explained. "This was also found in a body when Atobe, Echizen, Hiyoshi and I were in some catacomb down below. My best guess is – they were trying to rid themselves of the evidence. They probably realized that fire won't be good enough to destroy the evidence because there could be traces."

Oishi gulped at the sound of Tezuka's theory. "That means – there is only one acid good enough to destroy that and that's," –he shuddered at the image of it, "gastric acid."

"In other words," Inui then began jotting down notes, "stomach acids. They are known to melt almost anything and I don't think metal is not included in that statement. However, there might be no longer any traces of finger prints because it has gone through many finger prints such as Hiyoshi's, Atobe's and Tezuka's. There's no way we can tell who wielded it before."

Ohtori then remembered something. "There was also this guy I met; he was the one who helped me. Come to think of it," –the silver haired Hyotei kohai felt that there was something wrong, "he wasn't violent or anything. In fact, he asked me who else is here and even showed me around. I think his name was something like Orishoy?"

"Orishoy," Gakuto then seem to recall a few events concerning him, "yeah! That was the same guy who directed me to Yuushi!"

The data man of Hyotei also remembered bumping into the same man that they were talking about. "Yeah, Orishoy saved me from drowning inside a huge aquarium. Thing is – I don't even know how I got there! But, he did seem to know his way around the house and he did look very familiar."

Jirou yawned while taking out a picture. "I found this somewhere from the room Oishi and the others were in. They're one big family. I had to fold the picture several times just so I could take it with me."

Atobe snatched the picture from Hyotei's curly haired volleyist and began skimming at the picture. "Ore-sama would like to know where you got this, Jirou."

Momoshiro gulped when he remembered that room. "That place was loaded with cannibals! Are you sure you wanna go back there!? We had to jump off and slide down a damn stair case just so we can make it out in one piece!"

This time, it was Kaidoh's turn to smirk at him. "So? Scared this time, peach butt?"

"Urusei, Mamushi," snarled Momoshiro, "what would you have done if you were being chased by blood thirsty dead cannibals!?"

The two were ready to break loose with an argument until something began thumping and the wood began to creak. Echizen felt a pain shoot through his leg while he winced. "Don't tell me, there's another one. Do we really have to run again, buchou?"

Tezuka didn't seem to hear him because he was concentrating on something else. He tapped Fuji to check if he was feeling the same thing. "The footsteps are quite heavy for a ghost's, ne, Tezuka," Fuji asked while his blue eyes gazed into the hazel orbs of the bespectacled captain.

"Ah," this confirmed Tezuka's suspicions; there was something here and it seemed like it was still alive.

"_Nii-chan,"_ Mayumi tugged on the Hyotei captain's jacket while panicking, _"we have to get out of here otherwise,"_ the little girl gulped while shuddering, _"__**he's**_ _gonna come here!"_

Atobe gave her an awkward stare. "He's going to come here? Who exactly are you talking about?"

Kawamura stammered. "How about the guy who's walking towards us with a big axe? Is he the one you're talking about?"

Mayumi's eyes widened while the Hyotei Regulars and Seigaku Regulars were now staring at a huge man who stood taller than Kabaji. In his hand, there was an axe being dragged on the floor while he made his way towards them with a gleeful smile. They weren't sure whether he was alive or dead due to the fact that the place was very dimly lit but they heard something slosh on the floor and they were definitely sure that whatever spilled was not just water. _"Come here,"_ his voice being very hoarse yet maniacal at the same time.

Now, this was one thing that both captains agreed on despite the fact that they were rivals. "Minna, run."

With renewed adrenaline, they made a break for it despite the fact that they've been deprived of food and water. Momoshiro gulped. "We might as well find that place as soon as we get out of here!"

Jirou heard something grinding while he saw the same pair of red eyes staring at Fuji the other time when they were sliding down the banister. "YIIIIPE!"

"Jirou wha," Gakuto's sentence was cut off when he saw a pair of red eyes shiftily watching their movement and soon, it flashed a yellowish toothy grin while the magenta haired acrobat felt his knees become weak. Not because of infatuation but because of terror until he felt someone grab him. "Kabaji!"

The bigger kohai grabbed both Jirou and Mukahi and the thumping got heavier and louder. Oshitari saw a big bronze door which was standing at the side. "You wanna risk our lives through another door? Or do you prefer," looking at the wild man that was chasing them and the pair of red eyes that shiftily stared at them, "getting eaten by whatever's in front of us?"

Inui began jotting down on his notebook. "There is a ninety percent chance that we will bump into something more horrendous if we enter the door and one hundred percent that we will end up dead if we do not take this pathway, ii data."

Those were pretty high odds but they chose the door. Kaidoh reached for the knob swinging it open violently while grabbing Inui who yanked Taki because he grabbed his jacket, the data man of Hyotei soon tumbled after when he pulled in Atobe and Echizen and those two were holding Oshitari and Kikumaru. The red haired acrobat of Seigaku accidentally caused Oishi to stumble who pulled Fuji, who somehow managed to latch on to Tezuka, who in turn was being grabbed by Kawamura followed by Jirou who was on Kabaji's back and Gakuto was latched on to Kabaji's arm and then finally, Shishido and Ohtori tumbled in due to Momoshiro's shove when Gakuto accidentally kicked Seigaku's secondary powerhouse at the back. They all landed in a heap which soon included dusty books and spider webs covering all of them like a blanket.

"Oi, get off me," Shishido scowled while he kicked Gakuto who was lying on top of him.

"Hey," Gakuto growled while trying to shove off Kabaji, "Kabaji's not easy to kick off either!"

Atobe could only sigh in his predicament. "How nostalgic, didn't we end up like this before, nah, Tezuka?"

The bespectacled captain couldn't help but believe that too [I don't do yaoi. So no, dirty thoughts. Remember that time in Atobe's Gift the Movie? Yeah, imagine that.]. "Ah," then, he noticed someone else sitting on his legs, "Echizen, off, now."

Echizen tried to get off his captain. "Gomen buchou, Momo-senpai weighs as heavy as a hippo."

"Hey," Momoshiro retorted, "that's no way to treat your senpai! It's not my fault that Mamushi weighs as heavy as an ox!"

"Fsssh," Kaidoh hissed, "well, your clumsiness wouldn't have ended us in this predicament, baka peach!"

Hiyoshi sighed while struggling as well. "Taki-senpai, you are sitting on me and you're not exactly light. Gekokujou."

"Sorry, I wish I can move," Taki replied bitterly, "but someone here is sitting on top of me! Inui get off!"

"I forgot to consider the fifty percent chance where Ohtori will land on me, ii data," Inui said without seeming to care.

Ohtori whimpered. "I'm sorry but, I don't even know who's under me or on top of me anymore!"

"Owie," Jirou whined, "who's on top of me? He has some weird hair cut!"

Oishi yipped in a way when he felt the curly haired volleyist yank his hair. "Sorry. Eiji, where are you?"

"Here aibou," replied an energetic red haired acrobat, "but I'm getting squished by Taka-san's arm, nyah!"

"Ah, I'm sorry," Kawamura quickly apologized, "Fujiko-chan, where are you?"

The prodigy replied sheepishly, "Saa~, it seems that I'm on top of someone because someone with glasses is squishing me, whoever it is."

Oshitari wasn't sure how to react to Fuji's comment. "It's not my fault I landed this way, Atobe yanked me in here!"

"Ore-sama wouldn't have landed this way if Taki didn't yank him," snapped an angry and frustrated Atobe.

"Minna," Oishi tried to calm everyone down, "maybe we should find out who's on whom first so we can untangle ourselves. I know someone's under me and that's Jirou but who's this," he yanked someone's arm from the person he was under.

"Ow," he heard the silver haired kohai of Hyotei yelp.

Oishi now found that Ohtori was on top of him and he began looking around. "Oh, sorry, Ohtori," –he then started feeling a crawling sensation on his arm, "Guys, I feel something crawling on me. Do you guys feel the same thing?"

Momoshiro decided to tease. "Maybe Mamushi's being gay!"

Kaidoh hissed. "Che, maybe you're the one who's gay, baka peach!"

"Momoshiro, Kaidoh, enough," Tezuka's icy voice sounded off in the dark.

"Gomen," the two replied in unison.

However, the Regulars couldn't deny what Oishi was saying because they were feeling the same thing. "Does anyone have a flashlight," Kawamura asked.

"A cellphone might do," Oshitari opened his cellphone and a bright light shone from the small unit and soon, they found themselves covered with spider webs and hairy spiders and leeches.

Their eyes widened while they all scrambled away from each other. "UGH," was the first thing they yelped. (Excluding Kabaji, Tezuka and Fuji)

Spiders crawled away and the leeches twitched while they lay on the floor. Despite the room being dimly lit, they managed to find where they were going until Kabaji tugged on a long rope which he thought was a light switch until they heard something roll and thump on the floor. Atobe turned around while he felt something hit the back of his foot. "Arn~, Kabaji what was that?"

Oshitari shined his cellphone on it when they found a head rolling on the floor with long brown hair with a very contorted and distorted face. Dried blood covered the latter's head while they noticed that it was rashly cut off. Someone had been rushing. "Looks like we might find multiple murder weapons here," Fuji said while taking a look at the head.

"First thing's first," Tezuka began trying to feel out some things while leaning on the wall, "we have to find a light switch. We already found a head so I'm definitely sure that we're in a torture room. Yudan sezu ni ikou, minna."

The Seigaku Regulars replied in unison while trying to find a light switch. Atobe gave the same orders except voiced them quite differently. "Find a light switch, now!"

While stumbling once in awhile, Fuji felt something. "Hey, I found something. Feels like metal."

"Then yank it Fujiko-chan," Kikumaru chirped excitedly; praying that it was actually a light switch and not a finger of some sorts.

Fortunately for them, it was a light a switch and they found themselves in the room that Oishi, Momoshiro and the others were previously in. But this time, the family tree was sprawled in front of them and this time, it was clean; as if it had never been touched. "Wow," Oishi gulped, "I think that Lutana woman heard us; whoever she is."

"_I'm right here,"_ a kind womanly voice said.

The Regulars were terrified to turn around but Fuji was the first to turn and he smiled with surprise. "Sayami-san was right. You do look like me in a way."

They finally turned around in synchronization and they were shocked; the woman looked exactly like Fuji except a little more feminine since she was in a skirt and all. She wasn't very menacing looking; in fact, she was a very gentle natured woman and she was dusting the walls. _"I was hoping you would come here. I dusted this place to make sure that you could read the writings. Sorry if I didn't do a good job though,"_ looking down, she saw Mayumi behind Tezuka, _"Hello, Mayumi-chan."_

The little girl spirit squealed with delight. _"Okaa-san!"_

They embraced each other leaving the Regulars shocked. Jirou took a look at the family tree; their names were there. The marriage of Lutana and Yukihisa and their proof was Mayumi. Tezuka decided to ask while the others were still stuck in a daze. "Do you know anything that happened in this family that was bad enough to cause someone to do something very atrocious? Do you have any suspicions or anything or rather – of anyone who had been staying in this house?"

Lutana thought for a moment while responding with a smile. _"You see, the only people who lived here in this house was Yoshiro, Yukihisa, Tarou, Sayami, Shina, I, the kids, the mistresses and the butlers. Well, sometimes, there would be huge banquets here and big parties. I believe one was hosted here by us and they invited someone by the names Atobe and Tezuka?"_

Now, it was the captains' turns to get stared upon. Atobe growled. "Arn~, there's nothing on ore-sama's face," but then a smirk playfully appeared, "or are you so awed by ore-sama's handsomeness?"

Tezuka now found the answer upon why his grandfather was constantly mentioned. He was there but then again, why? He didn't even remember him telling him that he had a party to go to. Besides, this is one thing that they both shared in common: they were not very fond of parties unless they were hosted by a special friend. Before he could ask again, Momoshiro began asking, "I'd like to know, what is this "Vermillion Banquet" people keep talking about? I mean, I've heard about it from the others but it makes no sense."

They all stared at Momoshiro as if he had grown an extra head even Kaidoh was impressed by Momoshiro's question though he wouldn't admit it. "Yeah," Shishido scowled, "also, what's this thing about us trying to relive it again? I don't think we want to die here!"

Lutana sighed for a moment. This time, her expression was more remorseful and merciful. _"During that day, something had gone wrong. No one knew or understood what had happened but Yukihisa had suddenly gone insane. We have no idea why but we only discovered that he had murdered his wife. Another is – people started going wild one after the other and only few managed to drive out of the Kiritsuga family estate alive. We have no idea who they are but I'm definitely sure that one of them had to be one of Yukihisa-sama's half brothers. His family was quite a mess really because even I didn't understand it," _–a silver tear dripped from her eye, _"that day was full of fire and blood and many people fell. One after the other, it was a massive blood bath and we didn't know who the mastermind was. We just hope that you boys can solve it," _she whispered softly while ending her tale.

The regulars remained silent while they imagined what had happened on that day. They somehow understood why it came to be called the "Vermillion Banquet". Inui then opened his notebook while mounting a pen on his ear while asking. "Can you please tell me the description of those who lived here? Perhaps, we can narrow down the search…"

Lutana nodded while she beckoned Mayumi. _"Sweetie, can you get okaa-san the little book over at the shelves?"_

The little girl skipped happily and brought out a red book. To the others, the book looked like it was floating by itself while to others who were spiritually sensitive, they saw her bringing it to her and Lutana began turning the pages. _"Ah, well, Tarou was not exactly what you call stable. He wasn't "all there" either; in fact, he had appointments in mental institutions once in awhile but – he was relatively harmless," _she said with an assuring smile.

They weren't sure whether or not to believe her because Mayumi did mention something about Kiritsuga Tarou. The Seigaku regulars cringed at the sight of him walking towards them with his chain saw saying things like wanting to rip their entrails out and eating his fill while they were still alive. Momoshiro gulped. "Relatively??? Are you serious? The man tried to rip us into pieces," he yelled at the top of his lungs in total protest and retort.

Lutana sighed. _"Well, those were one of his episodes. There were times he would even attack children but apologize sincerely afterwards. Sayami's very kind, she's never hurt a soul and I don't think she's going to start now. Then, there's Mayumi whom you all became acquainted with,"_ the little girl waved her hand while the regulars just nodded stiffly at the little girl, _"there's also Ryouji and Mitsuda but because they were somehow abused; their emotions spread out all over the place. Wherever they suffered, that's exactly the same place they will haunt and they will have multiple personalities. There's Yuma whom I think you met downstairs," _ she earned a nod from Ohtori, _"she's actually Mitsuda's older sister and also Ryouji's mother. So basically, they're ages apart. I don't know how that happened but that's the gist of most of it. There's also one more you should be aware of – Shina, she was a collector of animals most especially exotic ones."_

Kaidoh shivered when she mentioned that while the second power house of Seigaku just shrugged. "That explains the wild black dogs coming after us."

Kawamura gulped also. "And the snakes that tried to eat Jirou and me."

Fuji questioned. "Did she have any mutant pets in here by any chance," he remembered seeing something big with red eyes and he just hoped it was something not necessarily too vicious.

Lutana paused for a moment. _"No, but I do remember that one of her favorite snakes had gone missing. Why?"_

The blue eyed tensai shuddered at the thought while Oshitari continued to bombard with questions. "By the way, who is Ciela?"

"_Oh, Ciela was one of the mistresses here and she is also my sister," _–the kansai prodigy's eyes widened with horror, _"don't worry,_" Lutana assured, _"she doesn't just attack people. But, she did love Yukihisa a lot. Why? Did she do something to you?"_

Oshitari didn't know what to reply while Shishido asked. "Hey there was this room that had portraits in them and a freaking useless birdbath in it, what the hell was that for?"

Lutana then recalled that. _"That? That room originally never existed," _–now the eyes of the regulars that had gone into that room widened with horror, _"but, the paintings I can say shows how each of us suffered. Like Kikumaru-san am I right," _–earning a nod from the terrified red head who was shocked that she knew his name, _"he was supposedly stuck in a coffin. That was how Shina suffered. Luckily, Ryouji was in the garden and he dug her out before she lost oxygen."_

Oishi gulped while he asked. "Then, how come I saw Eiji…dying?"

Though many expected Kikumaru to freak out and wail, he didn't. Lutana sighed. _"This house makes people see what they fear the most. For you, it was losing your doubles partner. For Ohtori, it was facing himself. For Atobe, it was letting someone take full control of his body without him realizing it and I think all of you know, an Atobe never takes orders."_

Everyone knew that; it was Atobe they were talking about after all.

"_As I was saying," _Lutana continued while she watched Inui jot down notes very quickly, _"this house is mostly haunted by the spirits of the vengeful mistresses. Ciela originally was never this harmful but ever since __**he**__ hurt her, she completely changed. She had flashbacks, panic attacks," _–tears dripped from Lutana's eyes once more, _"and many other things. No sedative could help her anymore."_

Ohtori wanted to comfort but he was also curious about this "he" they kept talking about. "Who are you talking about? Who exactly hurt Ciela-san?"

Lutana's eyes soon glittered with anger but not in a demonic way. _"Yoshiro. He kept taking in women from all over the place. Yukihisa only took care of some out of care and some out of obligation to his father. I was once a prostitute but he saved me and let me live here in this house. Mayumi was born after three years and Yoshiro then began hurting Ciela when she came with me. I saw those looks in his eyes. There wasn't any love in them, it was truly frightening to even look at them even once."_

Taki also felt the need to ask. "So wait, I'd like to know: do you know a guy named Orishoy?"

"_Orishoy," _Lutana thought for a moment, _"no. That's such a ridiculous name. Where did that name come from?"_

At this, the regulars paled and could've sworn that they were talking to someone who didn't exist at all.

-That's chapter 13! Please review! Reviews give me more inspiration to write!


	14. No Way

(I don't own Prince of Tennis!)

Chapter 14 – No Way

The regulars couldn't believe what Lutana just said. If it was true, then who exactly was this Orishoy person? Why did he look so familiar? Where exactly did they see him? Both Hyotei and Seigaku were at their wits' end to try and figure out more of this Orishoy guy. Fuji then began looking around to find more clues until he suddenly asked. "Does this family have any powerful sibling rivalry?"

Lutana thought for a moment and then remembered. _"Come to think of it, yes, they did. They always fought over money, prestige or the usual motivators. However," _–a sad smile graced her lips, _"I didn't know that the sibling rivalry was this bad until it happened. Yukihisa was the master of the house after all."_

Atobe then checked the family tree. "Was it because he was the eldest son?"

"_Not necessarily," _Lutana answered, _"they give rewards according to merits and awards in life. Yukihisa actually had accomplished the most."_

Oshitari smirked while assuming the motivation. "The perfect motivation: jealousy. He was killed because of all the attention he was getting."

Tezuka then looked at the picture. "That only explains why he was killed. It doesn't explain how the others got involved exactly. Lutana-san, I'd like to see any records that you have here."

Lutana nodded while beckoning Mayumi. _"Mayumi, give nii-san the thing he needs. It's in the top drawer."_

The little girl skipped towards the drawer and she looked at Tezuka with a smile. _"You were a lot like him when he was younger."  
_

The bespectacled captain had nodded stiffly while mouthing a soft "thank you" and picking up the records from the little girl. His eyes widened ever so slightly when he saw the numbers and they were all cheques being converted to cash. Atobe snatched one of the cheques out of Tezuka's hand while looking at it. "What did they use this for? What kind of person draws this much money? The last time ore-sama did this is when he wanted a car," this statement earned him stares from all the regulars.

Lutana shrugged. _"I don't know but their financial businesses were always in joint accounts so, you need one of the account owners to draw money."_

Echizen took a look at the family tree once more while contemplating on another thought. "Hey, do you know what happened to the others on that day?"

Mayumi shook her head while Lutana let out a mournful sigh. _"Ciela was killed before that day. We just found her in the garden one day and her body just lay among the Marigolds. Sayami was found in the basement completely dismembered and Shina was found in her laboratory missing certain body parts. Tarou was found dead when he had a chainsaw next to him with his belly slit open," _–the regulars shuddered at the image, _"but, the others were all burned and destroyed the same day as I. On the Vermillion Banquet, not one of the Kiritsuga family members had survived the attack."_

Shishido however didn't want to believe that. "How about this Yoshiro guy that we've never seen the ghost of? Have you actually seen him?"

Lutana shook her head and realized that Shishido did have a point. _"No and come to think of it, I've never seen him wondering these halls. It's like he actually managed to escape."_

Inui then whipped out his notebook and began flipping the pages. "Did Yoshiro and his brothers have any conflict with each other? Did they have any recent sibling rivalries that could have caused this carnage to happen? Or, let me rephrase the question: what event could have pushed one of them to do this kind of insanity?"

Oishi mumbled. "I'd actually think that Kiritsuga Tarou did it."

They all turned towards the mother hen of Seigaku who continued to explain. "Think about it, he's the only one with the least amount of mental stability. He was the only one who wielded weird weapons and maybe even the only one who's done it. Maybe he didn't know what he was doing and he slew them by accident."

"There's no such thing as accidents, Oishi," Tezuka pointed out, "especially when it comes to murder. There has to be a pattern, every crime has a pattern to it."

Kikumaru shrugged. "Maybe he only targeted the siblings, nyah?"

They all looked at the red haired acrobat of Seigaku with shock. Momoshiro's eyes widened at the assumption that the acrobat had made. "You're right because the only ones that Lutana-baa-chan mentioned are the siblings of Yukihisa. The rest were all singed into a crisp before anyone could notice."

Kaidoh didn't choose to mock Momoshiro for his sudden spark of intelligence because he himself was quite baffled by the mystery. "How many are they in the family?"

Lutana took a look at the family tree. _"I never kept track really. But the Yukihisa plus his siblings are at least around twenty three of them. Some of them are twins and some of them are step siblings. Some are even half siblings. The ones you see with a red line connected," _–she pointed at the red line connecting Yukihisa's name and Shina's name together, _"show that they are blood related. Blue is for step siblings and violet is for those who are half siblings." _

Taki traced his fingers on the lines and saw the siblings. "Okay, we basically only have twenty suspects then since the last three are dead. But that leaves one more thing: what about the mistresses who lived in this house? What happened to them and how many exactly are you guys?"

Lutana began counting her fingers. _"I'm not exactly sure either but the most one of the Kiritsuga family members had in terms of wives was I think twenty if I'm not mistaken?"_

Kawamura gulped. "Seriously, there were twenty of you?"

Jirou was now completely awake from what he was hearing. "How can there be so much of you?"

Gakuto's eyes started to grow wide while Oshitari smacked him. "I know exactly what you're thinking, don't even go there."

Ohtori didn't even want to know what they did but he asked a question anyway. "What about Yukihisa? How many did he have?"

"_He's not the womanizer everyone thinks he is," _Lutana said sadly, _"everyone assumes that he was crazy all because he was on drugs. There's no way that he was like that because he had the least amount. He actually never married you know. He only went crazy for a period of time and then, he never did __**it **__again. He said that he would never do it now that he was still married."  
_

Kabaji actually made a small statement. "Sagaraki…Hina…"

The young woman nodded. _"That's right; he never wanted to go near women again after a period of time she had died. Some of the women who came here were obligated to stay with him and some like me came here because he asked me to live with him. True that Mayumi is our daughter but, after her, there was no one else. He was so horrified what he had done to Yuma that he swore that he would never do it again."_

Hiyoshi mumbled. "Well, at least he's not completely insane."

Echizen dared to inquire. "Are there anymore that we should be aware of?"

Lutana nodded. _"Whatever you do, when you meet Hitoma, run for your lives and don't look at her. Another one is Suzumi, she was once a circus performer and she was quite accurate with knives really."_

Atobe inwardly groaned to himself when he remembered the flaming wheel. Shishido was in no mood to relive that part of his memory while Ohtori shivered at the thought alone. "Anybody else," Shishido groaned seeing that there was going to be a long list of insane people.

The woman continued. _"Well, there's Shina's pets. They're usually characterized to have red eyes. The one you should be aware of his her golden lance spear head snake, I think Yoshiro did something to it and it kind of mutated. I don't know the names of the mistresses exactly but there was one who was very seductive," _–Atobe cringed at the memory when he remembered the times he couldn't move, _"she would do anything to get under a man's charms even going as far as to binding them on to a chair."_

Fuji then recalled seeing something glitter in the dark with a pair of red eyes at the end of the banister he was sliding on previously. "That must've been the snake then," he thought quietly to himself.

Kawamura shuddered at the image of the meat grinder. "Did you ever have a slaughter house under this place?"

Lutana shook her head. _"Not that I know of but I suggest it's best that you look downstairs because that's where all the evidence is kept. Mayumi can guide you through the house and she can help you find your way out later on as well. But, I don't think the ghosts of the others will let you out unless you solve the mystery."_

They knew that pretty well and Gakuto whined. "We're not splitting up again are we?"

Fuji shook his head. "We better not; we've already seen how dangerous this house is and the fact that we'll split up makes us easier targets. I say go together."

Oishi nodded. "Yeah, I think I'm gonna agree to that because I'm not in the mood to see one of those creepy visions again."

Jirou yawned since he was getting bored again and slumped onto Kabaji's back. "Can we go now?"

The blue haired bespectacled kansai prodigy sighed at the sleepy Hyotei regular while picking up some things. "Wait, what about the household help? Did anything happen? Did they get into a fight with their masters good enough for them to attempt something like this?"

Lutana shrugged. _"I actually don't know. The only one with enough hatred to do that is butler because Yukihisa had snarled at him for trying to poison his wife."  
_

Oshitari passed a look to Atobe. "Good enough reason?"

The purple haired king of Hyotei smirked. "Ore-sama thinks we should find this "butler" of theirs, don't you think?"

For once, Hyotei and Seigaku agreed to one thing. If they needed a lead, he was the best place to start. Echizen turned to Lutana. "Where do the household help sleep in this house anyway?"

Lutana motioned Mayumi who grinned cheekily. _"Follow me!"_

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Uneasily, they followed after the little girl and made their way towards the downstairs. Kawamura gulped. "Are you sure there are no meat grinders or anything?"

Mayumi nodded. _"Whatever mama says is true! Besides, we never lived long enough to see what's in the basement."_

Tezuka began observing the room making sure that there was nothing there and then; Kabaji began tugging Atobe's jacket. "Atobe…"

The icy eyed king of Hyotei turned around to face the huge kohai. "Arn~, what is it, Kabaji?"

What the regulars saw was something that froze them completely in their tracks: they saw something making their way towards them. The foot steps were light and loud thumping and splintering of the wood could be heard. Echizen pulled down his cap. "Buchou, can we run now?"

Fuji's blue eyes stared at the figure coming towards them and then, the pace which was once a slow walking pace had increased and soon, it broke into a sprint and then, it began running. A loud maniacal laugh filled the air and they heard steel singing into the air and that told the minds of the regulars to do one thing they've been doing all the time. "Run!"

They broke into a furious sprint and Kaidoh narrowly managed to dodge a knife that nearly skewered his leg while Shishido was getting ahead due to his mastery of dash like movements. Ohtori yelped while another knife flew past his head and another one narrowly escaped between his legs. "How long are we going to keep running like this? We have to get back to the living room!"

Ohtori did have a point; that was the only place with no flying objects that would come and kill them. Jirou was actually asleep during this entire mess and Kikumaru ducked every once in awhile to dodge flying projectiles that were planning to skewer them into shishkababs. "Mou~, isn't there another way out? I don't like getting chased by knives, nyah!"

Hiyoshi, remembering his lessons with his father had managed to grab the knife and throw it back. However, when he was supposedly aiming for the head, it simply went through and when they saw the moonlight shine on their pursuer they discovered something new: he had no head. The regulars' eyes widened with horror while they continued running. There was no way that they wanted to get killed by this headless pursuer. "What do we do now?"

The teams relied on their buchou at this moment in time and they realized that they were just running through a hallway with no end. Atobe looked at Tezuka warily. "Tezuka, would you like trying to jump through a window again, arn~?"

The bespectacled captain of Seigaku for the very first time felt at a loss upon what to do. There were no doors and there were only windows and he wasn't very sure whether or not jumping out of the window should be considered an idea. He was contemplating on that thought until the little girl remembered something. _"Nii-san, hold on to me," _–she said while grabbing his hand, _"Tell everyone to hold on to each other! I have an idea, nii-san!" _

Tezuka didn't know whether or not he should try the gamble but it seemed to be the only way upon getting out. "Minna, grab on to someone!"

They were quizzical and doubtful at Tezuka's idea but seeing that he had a plan, they decided to go with it. It was definitely better than having no plan at all. The little girl grabbed on to Tezuka and with a great amount of effort, the regulars soon discovered themselves going through walls. Then, finally, they found themselves in the basement. _"We're here!"_

They opened their eyes found themselves at a well maintained part of the house. Atobe was the first one to break the silence. "This place is too clean for ore-sama's liking."

Fuji looked around. "This proves my feeling: someone is still here in this house."

"And whoever that person is," Momoshiro touched the clean walls and feeling out his surroundings, "is stopping us from solving mystery which means one thing: there's something he or she knows."

Inui then began scribbling in the notebook. "There's a ninety percent chance that we will find some evidence that we are looking for here that will help piece the puzzle together."

Atobe snapped his fingers while ordering the Hyotei regulars. "Everyone, start digging!"

Tezuka gave the Seigaku regulars a look that said "Start looking, we might find something here". Kikumaru then began investigating cabinets which had a fresh set of clothes and Ohtori spotted a violin. "This place is so well maintained, I wonder who lives here," the silver haired kohai wondered aloud.

Shishido pulled out a notebook and began flipping the pages. "Nada, there's nothing in here."

Kawamura checked the bathroom. "There's nothing here either."

Jirou on the other hand found the bed and jumped on it with joy. "Yay, there's a bed here! I get to sleep, waah!"

The Hyotei regulars noticed Jirou's yelp and it turns out that the bed was actually hard. There was something under it and Echizen lifted the overs. It was a comforter but Kaidoh hissed. "Fsssh, I bet there's something else under those covers."

Inui lifted it and soon, a flood of papers dropped on to the ground. Picking them up and examining them, Inui concluded. "These were deeds and titles to many properties of land. Question is – why was it all in a mattress? Who in the right mind would put it in here," –he then began scribbling, "ii data."

Taki opened the dressing table's drawer and pulled out old newspapers. "Wow, someone is living here. There are so many articles here from newspapers!"

The regulars moved over to Taki while they decided to separate it. For the first time, Gakuto was the very first one to notice that there was something in the newspaper articles had in common. "Check all of there articles out, these things were all about Yukihisa! It's been yabbering about how great Yukihisa is and what a philanthropist he is."

Oshitari took a look at it while adjusting his glasses. "You're right. Someone's been keeping track of his progress."

Oishi found a couple of pictures and pointed out. "Yeah, there are even pictures here with red marker circles on them. But, funny thing is –."

Tezuka took a look at the picture and saw what the similarity was. Then, realization hit him like a lightning bolt and he berated himself for not knowing any sooner. "The killer's still here. He's still in this house and right now, we're in his room. The red circles, were his targets."

Fuji took a look at the picture that Mother Hen was holding with a nod. "The people being encircled were the siblings but, I see someone here who isn't among the siblings but is encircled," –pointing at the female whose place in the picture was encircled, "isn't this, Sagaraki Hina?"

The regulars crowded behind Fuji and then saw that he was right. Question was: what was the reason why Sagaraki Hina was killed? Not to mention her kids were also killed.

Hiyoshi pulled out a chest under the study table. "Guys, I think I hit the jackpot."

The regulars moved towards Hiyoshi and when the ace of Hyotei tried to open it, it was locked. Atobe threw his hands up with a sigh. "Great, it's locked. We don't even have the key and whatever we need might be in that stupid box. How do you expect us to open it?"

Fuji looked at the lock and then Echizen turned to Inui. "Inui-senpai, borrow ballpen."

The towering data man of Seigaku didn't understand why the freshman ace of Seigaku wanted to borrow his ballpen. "Echizen, chance of you being able to pick that lock is seventy five percent. Using my ballpen however decreases your chances by fifty percent."

Echizen didn't bother listening to Inui's probability explanations so; simply snatching the pen, Echizen then stuck it inside the keyhole and began toying with the lock. Atobe sniggered at his attempt. "Brat, you can't open a lock with a ballpen. You need a key for that."

The Seigaku freshman titled his cap while smirking at Atobe. "Mada mada dane, monkey king."

In a few minutes, the lock suddenly fell off and the box popped open. The regulars stared in awe at how Echizen was able to pull it off. "My dad taught me how to do this," Echizen muttered whenever he mentioned his perverted father, "whenever someone steals and locks up his porn magazines, he goes to the place and picks the lock with a ballpen. Though, the best thing to use is actually a needle for a lock like this."

The Seigaku regulars exchanged glances with each other. Who knew that the freshman prodigy's father was a pervert despite him being the greatest tennis player in his time? "So," Oishi tried breaking the silence, "what's in the box? Anything useful?"

Gakuto was the first one to open it and when he blew the dust away, he saw that there were birth certificates, many identification IDs and more. "Wow, the killer really wanted to erase the existence of one person. He stole almost everything he knew about the person," –pulling out a paper, "hey look, it's Sagaraki Hina-san's record! Her birth certificate is here, so's her driver's license. Even her graduation certificate is here and including her account information. This is all high security information," he proclaimed with shock.

Oshitari soon began sifting through the information inside the box. "Yeah, not only that, there's even accounts that belong to the Atobe group. Atobe, didn't your dad say before that he was missing a million yen from one of his ten accounts?"

The purple haired king of Hyotei snatched the papers from the kansai prodigy and saw what had happened: the account was frozen. "Arn~ someone actually managed to freeze ore-sama's father's account! But, the information was confidential, how did they manage to get the information good enough to hack in?"

Ohtori pulled out another stack of papers. "Some papers here actually some of Yukihisa's contracts with other lessors. He was pretty good in real estate from what I see."

Shishido began opening the folders and started searching for names. "Geez, this thing is so unorganized. Gekidasa daze."

"Which proves more the fact that this is the killer's room," Taki said while checking out the stuff, "He wouldn't have enough time to organize his files and maybe he would just stuff them all into one box and maybe burn it. Lucky for us, he hasn't yet. But the question is: who is the one who lives in this room?"

"Check this out, nyah," Kikumaru pulled out a long string of pearls from a box, "this is priceless nyah!"

Jirou who was awake after falling off the bed. "Yeah, there are so many pieces of jewellery here! I wonder who owns them though."

Tezuka checked out some of them. "These aren't fake either," –while holding up on of the ten carat diamond choker to check the diamonds on it, "My best guess is – they belonged to the mistresses of the family. No one else would have this kind of jewellery because not even kids would be allowed to use this."

Oshitari sighed while he looked at the sparkling objects. "Who in the right mind doesn't place them in the correct place? I mean – don't they have safes or vaults for that?"

The blue eyed honey haired tensai of Seigaku examined them. "I think they did have a safe. I think it's the fact that they never had the time to put it in because they were killed."

Momoshiro and Kaidoh were digging up the closet and then, Kaidoh pulled something by accident which landed on both him and Momoshiro. "Watch what you're pulling, Mamushi!"

"Urusei, baka momoshiri," snarled the snake boomerang user, "you were the one who hit me!"

"Eh," Momoshiro growled back getting ready to brawl with Kaidoh, "wanna have the fight here and now, Mamushi?"

Atobe passed a look to Tezuka who looked like he was suffering already from a migraine and Oishi was the only one who had enough guts to split them up. "Guys, not now. Someone might hear us if we're down here and you guys are screaming too loud," sharply whispered the fuku buchou of Seigaku.

Mayumi was floating around and she peeked into the bathroom and let out a shrill shriek. _"EEEEEEEEEEK!"_

The regulars were alarmed by the little girl's sudden scream when they found her with her head through the bathroom door. Momoshiro swung it open and demanded. "What happened," his sentence was cut short with what they saw in the bathroom.

Posters lined the wall and many family pictures as well. Many of them were torn and some were even had circles on it. Dried blood trailed all the way from the faucet to the windows while the water from the shower head dripped slowly. Fuji took a look at the cabinets and the cubby holes of the bathroom. "There are so many chemicals are. Some are even good enough to make a home made poison."

Tezuka open the drawer and saw many knives. "Atobe, do you have the knife with you? The one you pulled," –he cringed slightly at the thought but because of his stoic face, no one actually noticed, "out of my shoulder? Where is it?"

The king passed the knife to his rival and to Tezuka's luck, it was a perfect match. All the knives were the same. "This is only one of the knives. He had several more in here. This means – if he did use at least one of these knives that means we still have evidence."

"Senpai-tachi, I found something," called the Seigaku freshman regular.

They all went to Echizen who had found a laptop a very recently released model in the drawer. "Now who do you think this belongs to?"

Oshitari took a glimpse of it while powering it up. "Whoever had survived the fire or whoever killed the people."

Luckily, they didn't have to wait long for the processor to start up. Oshitari started opening files and many web pages began to appear. "These are all, recipes for…"

Fuji pointed out. "These are recipes for poison. He put them in his bookmark," –turning to the data man, "Inui, can you see if you can trace the history of the laptop?"

The bespectacled data man sat down and began typing furiously on the laptop like his life depended on it and many more web pages appeared. It was all about the Kiritsuga family and most articles were about Yukihisa. There were a few about the other siblings but there was one that had caught their eye: HALF BROTHER OF YUKIHISA DOMINATED BY THE YOUNGER.

"Jealousy," Momoshiro repeated, "that's the only motive I can think of now."

Atobe read it carefully. "It seems that this half brother, Yoshiro was deadly jealous of his younger half brother, Yukihisa. I wouldn't be surprised though – many of the articles say what a great person Yukihisa is. This article's about a court case they had concerning the inheritance. Yukihisa won the case due to the half brother being illegitimate and also having a criminal record."

Taki read on for Atobe. "He was convicted of hacking into bank accounts, wiring credit cards, shadow dealing and selling things into the black market. I'm not surprised if he wanted Yukihisa dead."

Hiyoshi nodded while he read on. "It says here that no one knows where he is now. Some say he changed country to start a new life and some say he's serving his life in prison."

Kawamura took a look at the drawers. "Look guys, it's a will."

The bouncy red head of Seigaku and Kaidoh decided to take a look at it. "It's signed by the grandfather, nyah!"

Kaidoh continued reading. "It says here that the eldest son of the family will inherit all that belongs to him. But I have a question: Yukihisa isn't the eldest son but why was he given the fortune?"

Oshitari continued typing. "That's probably the exact thought of the killer, he was probably wondering what made Yukihisa inherit all of it. All of that might be what the killer thought while he plotted to take down Yukihisa or," –Oshitari sifted through the articles, "he was the younger one and he thought it was incredibly unfair for the eldest to get everything."

Seigaku's tensai nodded while looking at the article more intently. "But that only explains the reason why Yukihisa was killed but not the mistresses."

"Could be innocent bystanders," Taki shrugged.

"I don't think so," they all turned to Tezuka who was looking at some papers, "according to the FBI, they found her body way before the Vermillion Banquet. Like around ten years or many years back," the bespectacled captain continued to flip through the papers, "but Ryouji and the others were only killed recently with the other mistresses of the house so, why is it, she was singled out?"

There was a deadly silence until Echizen sighed while continuing the search. "Let's hope we can find some things and make it out alive."

However, before they could say anything, the air conditioning started working and blowing in really cold air and because they were wet from their previous encounters, it was freezing. Oshitari took a look at Taki. "Taki, give me your memory stick! I'm going to save all of this information; we're going to need it."

The data man of Hyotei tossed it to Oshitari while he continued to save the files. "Come on, faster…"

Echizen tried turning off the air conditioning. "No use, the thing is stuck."

Fuji looked around. "Or it's remote controlled but that's impossible. Most signals can't even go through walls."

Mayumi flew next to Tezuka shivering. _"What's happening nii-san?"_

The bespectacled captain didn't know what to tell her but he had to find a way out or they'll be frozen to death.

-That's Chapter 14! Please review!


	15. Running Away

(I don't own Prince of Tennis!)

Chapter 15 – Running Away

The air conditioning was on full blast and because they were drenched in blood and water, it was freezing. Atobe shivered a little while the cold licked against his body. "Oshitari, are you done!?"

The kansai blue haired prodigy shook his head with a scoff. "His files are huge; he never bothered downsizing them into smaller bits."

Kawamura was looking around and found a red dot on the mirror like a laser. "Hey," –walking towards it despite the fact he was trembling due to the cold, "I wonder where this is coming from?"

Turning around, the sushi chef apprentice saw nothing which allowed him to assume that the light was coming from the mirror. He looked at the air conditioner and saw that there was a sensor. This proved Fuji's theory: it was remote controlled but through a mirror? That seemed most unlikely. Kawamura at first was afraid to break someone else's property until he saw Echizen slumping on to the floor due to the cold. Oishi was also slipping who was soon followed by Gakuto and Ohtori. Deciding against his shy nature, he picked up a lamp shade which sat on the table and this activated his burning mode. "BURRRRNING, I'M GONNA BREAK THIS MIRROR, BABY!"

With astounding force expected of Seigaku's number one powerhouse, Kawamura swung the lamp shade so hard that the mirror cracked instantly and the air conditioning died soon after. A small little black device rolled on the floor and it was the one with the laser. Fuji picked it up while examining it very closely. "It's a sensor. I knew it," the blue eyed tensai stood up while showing it to Tezuka, "because it had to be somewhere in here. It couldn't have been from outside because it would be noticeable and the signal wouldn't be able to penetrate the walls."

Ohtori, shaking his head out of the nauseous feeling, gulped while looking around. "Does this mean the killer knows that we're in here?"

"For him to attempt something like that," Shishido stated, "obviously he does, Choutarou. The only thing I don't understand is how he manages to track our movement when this house shifts pathways every time," –the capped half of the silver pair looked around while trying to discern a few more things, "not only that, he doesn't even know that we have a ghost aiding us. I bet you that whatever he's using to watch us can somehow trace the pathway. That's the only explanation."

"It could be either that or," Atobe looked around to find cameras, "we're being watched by the world's smallest camera."

"Or we have something that has a tracker on it," Fuji noted while remembering that people had been bringing around things, "everyone, dump out whatever you have taken from the different parts of the house. There might be something there."

Seeing that nothing was about to attack any time soon, the regulars dumped out everything. Most of them were notebooks, papers, photos and a broken blade. Jirou was attempting to actually wake up the magenta haired acrobat while they were looking through things. Oshitari picked up one of the notebooks and began flipping through pages until he noticed that there was a page torn. "Looks like someone tore out a very important page."

Fuji checked the photos and noticed something that everyone had failed to notice. "They're taped to the wrong half of each other."

Momoshiro took a peek and noticed it also. "Yeah, you're right, Fuji-senpai. But, where are the real halves?"

Kaidoh began digging through the papers that were dumped in front of them while his eyes widened. "They're not here."

"Which means," Echizen nonchalantly replied while taking a look at the book he had brought with him, "the killer has it," However, his eyes suddenly widened when he saw something on the book.

Kikumaru was the first to notice. "Nyah, ochibi are you okay? You look like you saw a ghost," however, the acrobat was quickly silenced when he saw what was in the book.

Gakuto crawled over towards the two. "Why did you two stop in mid – oh damn," the magenta haired acrobat too stopped in mid sentence when he saw what the two were reading. It was a photo of the Vermillion Banquet; people were running around while some were going maniacal. Blood splattered everywhere but it was hard to tell which was bloodied because the picture was red due to the flames however, that wasn't the only thing that was scaring them: in the picture, demons were shown to be flying around and taking people down while some had sunk their fangs into their victims' necks. "Disgusting," Gakuto muttered, "I wonder where that came from."

Ohtori's eyes widened when he saw another photo in a book he had found among the pile. "Guys, do angels have glowing red eyes," –the silver haired kohai grimaced at the picture, "because from the books I read, they don't. But this one seems to show something even more evil."

Oshitari snatched the picture from the Scud Serve master and looked through it. Ohtori was right because what he saw was a picture of a woman lying on a bed while a man had a knife in hand while there was a statue of a concrete angel with red eyes beaming down on them. In hand, it had a three pronged trident and the kansai prodigy had to admit; he himself was freaked out by the image. "That is the most contradictory thing I've ever seen but," he pointed at the people, "who are they?"

Shishido took a look at it. "Disgusting," –lowering his cap in utter disgust, "I bet one of them is the half siblings of Yukihisa trying to rape the sibling of Yukihisa."

They looked at the dash specialist for a moment and Momoshiro pointed out. "Hey, doesn't that look like Sayami?"

The honey haired blue eyed tensai of Seigaku took a peek at it while analysing it carefully. "Taka-san, can you find me a photo of any of the family members?"

The brunette powerhouse of Seigaku began digging frantically while handing Fuji one of the pictures who thanked him with an innocent smile. "Thank you," the honey haired tensai then revealed his expertise in photos while he quickly began making out definite images. "Too bad, if we had a scanner, I would've been able to make a clearer picture."

Tezuka looked at the photo. "It looks more like a torture photo that was taken in the cathedral."

They stared at Tezuka wondering how he could have said that so calmly without much fuss. The others stared at the picture with horror while Tezuka continued to prove something. "This shot was taken in a makeshift chapel or maybe even a cathedral," the bespectacled captain was even more disgusted while he continued his explanation. "I never knew someone would commit sacrilege. Or rather – I never knew someone insane enough to do something like this."

While they were looking, they didn't know that something was creeping behind them and suddenly, they then noticed that they were no longer hearing Shishido's voice. "Shishido-senpai?"

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Shishido finally woke up after a few minutes when he felt something slit his wrist. "Wha--? Where the hell am I? Who the hell grabbed me?"

"So," a male voice sniggered, "you finally got up, boy."

The capped teen didn't know who it was but he struggled furiously only to find out that he was bound by something heavy and he remembered that heavy things weren't his thing really. "Who are--?"

The man stepped into the light and he saw a face that he recognized. "Aren't you…?"

"One of Yukihisa's brothers, yes," the man made a step forward, "it was me, Kiritsuga Tai! I did it all! All those riches would've been mine!"

The man's face was covered but in his hand was a club and Shishido didn't dare ask what it was for because the answer was point blank obvious. Shishido kicked against the wall furiously. "I would've been successful but no, something just had to go wrong! It was no fair!"

Swinging the club consecutively, he managed to hit Shishido in places that was already sore and frozen. "I wanted the money! The fame, I wanted to live forever! It wasn't fair! I was always given the bottom end of everything! Why, why, why!?"

The blows stung Shishido at every part of his body but what could he do? He couldn't move at all. Kicking furiously, the dash specialist couldn't get out no matter what he did until he had an idea. Though it sounded very disgusting to him but did he have any other choice except get beaten into a bloody pulp until he couldn't move? Slowly putting his plan into action, Shishido allowed the beatings to keep on coming until he finally managed to wriggle one wrist out. Gritting in pain after dislocating his thumb, Shishido finally managed to wrestle of one of the shackles binding his foot. This allowed him a little more movement while he gave a firm kick to the man's face. "Suck it up, asshole!"

Stumbling back, the man was not stopped while he charged once again at the capped half of the silver pair. However, he didn't realize that while he was stumbling back, Shishido had already made a break for it and sprang away as fast as he could. Well, Shishido was anything but slow because his dash gave him a comfortable margin while running. "Come back here," the voice howled while it echoed in the teen's ears, "let me spray this room with your blood!"

Shishido was in no mood to make any smart comebacks because he was busy running for his life and making sure he was back in one piece. Then suddenly, Shishido felt something impale his shin while nearly tumbling over. The capped Hyotei dash specialist took a look at one had impaled him but he didn't have much time to check what it was really but rather, he chose to make a break for it. He heard something bursting but he wasn't quite sure what it was until he finally managed to take a glimpse at the man. His pursuer dragged his foot behind without much say in anything. "Damn it, what the hell is he shooting at me," –checking his leg once more, Shishido's eyes widened when he realized what the weapon was, "shit, a nail gun!"

The man's loud laughter rang out while he made a mad dash for the door. More things flew past him, some even going for his head but the capped regular managed to dodge it. "I need lessons from Mukahi after all," –muttered Shishido, "gekidasa daze. Although, that was some confession and now that he's told me," he looked back only to see him running towards him with a nail gun, "he's going to kill me, great."

He dashed faster hoping to somehow lose him until he finally found a door and slammed it behind him causing the door to defend him from the flying nails. "Damn, that was close."

"Wow," a voice said, "You managed to survive. Tai usually doesn't let people escape alive."

Shishido was scared to look up but finally gathered the courage to even face him. "You… wait, aren't you?"

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Some of the regulars decided to stay in the room while some went to look for the missing Shishido. Ohtori had partnered up with Mukahi for that matter since the acrobat wanted to also find the dash specialist. "Hey, Mukahi-senpai," Ohtori shuddered while looking at the damp and dark hallways, "do you think Shishido-senpai is going to be alright?"

Gakuto smirked. "I'm sure," –waving his hand dismissively, "the guy's got more steel in his head than a car. It would take more than just a mallet to break him into pieces."

The silver haired kohai wasn't sure whether or not he should believe him. "I guess," –let alone the fact that he wasn't even sure if he should be optimistic about the situation.

The magenta haired acrobat continued to skip away and until they noticed something on the ground. "Hey, isn't this a piece of the Hyotei jersey?"

Ohtori's eyes widened with horror as his body flooded with panic and worry. "Oh no! Shishido-senpai might've been kidnapped! They could've killed him! They might have turned him into meat!"

Gakuto wasn't sure whether or not Ohtori had a radioactive imagination. "Ohtori, where did you get that junk? How long have you been hanging with Seigaku to go that crazy!?"

The silver haired Scud Serve master shrugged. "Well, with a killer on the loose," –he continued to justify, "I don't think it would be improbable to find Shishido-senpai in pieces," his lips quivered at the thought.

Actually, in the back of his mind, the magenta haired acrobat was also thinking that but he didn't want to worry Shishido's partner nor did he want his kohai to become unbelievably pessimistic. "It's okay, Ohtori. I'm sure Shishido can run fast enough to make sure he has an unbelievable margin of escape. For all you know, he made his way back into the rooms already. Though, I don't think we should have split up. I mean – the place looks even more demeaning than before. What the hell is going on?"

Ohtori gulped while he began tugging his senpai's shoulder. "Mukahi-senpai, I think we have to go anytime soon."

Gakuto turned back to face his kohai. "Why? What's going on, Ohtori?"

The silver haired kohai pointed what was behind them and found the carpet rolling towards them with furious speed and rats poured into the hallway. Gakuto's eyes widened while grabbing Ohtori's wrist. "Damn it, run for it, Ohtori!"

Without another word said, the two Hyotei regulars sprint forward to find Shishido and at the same time escape from the menacing rats which soon began to eat everything in its path. Gakuto gulped. "I knew Atobe made us run laps for a reason! I guess my stamina does need work!"

Ohtori however wasn't concentrating on that but rather on the safety of his senpai. "Shishido-senpai, where are you?"

Then, suddenly something from below opened which they both fell through and they soon found themselves in a tub. Gakuto got up while looking around. "Where the hell are we now?"

Ohtori gulped while he felt something sticky. "What is this?"

The magenta haired acrobat pulled his arm out. "It ain't glue that's for sure," –checking his surroundings, "still, where are we?"

They began looking around but because it was so dark, they couldn't see anything. Ohtori shivered a little because of fear. He just wanted to go home, play his violin and maybe practice a couple of Scud Serves before heading into practice. He didn't want to end up dead but he was quite concerned for his doubles partner as well. "Mukahi-senpai, how much longer do you think it will take before we solve the mystery?"

Gakuto shrugged in reply. "I don't know, maybe a few more days," –then he felt something drop on his arm, "hey what is --- Yaaaah!"

Ohtori jumped at the sound of the magenta haired Hyotei acrobat's loud yell. "What is it?"

"A-a-an," the acrobat stammered weakly while staring and pointing at what was in front of him, "arm…!"

Ohtori looked at it and saw a sleeve and the sleeve was very recognizable. "It can't be Shishido-senpai's arm, can it?"

Gakuto gulped while looking at it. "I hope not because that's really gross!"

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Fuji and Tezuka however decided to search for him also because they wanted to find info and it seemed to be that they were the only pair that wasn't scared easily out of their wits. The honey haired blue eyed tensai began looking around. "Saa~, don't you wish that I brought my camera, Tezuka? We could've taken pictures of the crime scenes."

Tezuka knew in a way that, that wasn't the only reason why he wanted to bring his camera. "Fuji, knowing you," –he pointed out calmly, "you'd take pictures of people being scared out of their minds."

Fuji clucked his tongue when his bespectacled buchou figured him out. "Saa~, you know me too well, Tezuka."

The bespectacled captain didn't say anything because he was busy thinking of the mystery. This thing had been occupying his mind the entire time because he no longer had any idea who the killer was. The great Tezuka Kunimitsu now had no idea on who the killer was. For all you know, there could be two of them that were unaware by the fact that they were helping each other. He was completely annoyed by the fact that he had no answers. "So, who exactly did this? The bigger question is how he managed to do all this without getting reported or having any witnesses."

Fuji looked at the ever serious bespectacled captain of Seigaku. "The mystery's probably still pestering you, ne, Tezuka?"

"Ah," was the only thing that Tezuka said. He was a little distracted by the mystery, he had to admit. However, that didn't mean that he wasn't aware of anything else. The bespectacled brunette continued walking until he suddenly had something strike him like lightning. "Wait a minute," –he thought to himself, "the killer is still alive which means, that it couldn't be any of the mistresses or any of the other siblings but none of the siblings are still alive which means there's only one person left. But wasn't he burned along with the," Tezuka paused to think again until he felt Fuji yank him.

Both teens hit the dirt while Fuji smiled innocently. "Sorry, Tezuka. A knife was flying past your head."

The bespectacled captain silently berated himself for being so careless when another knife landed next to him but this time; he was fast enough to dodge it. Fuji's blue eyes widened with horror. "Looks like we're on the menu now, Tezuka."

He was definitely not in the mood to be skewered but he was also more focused in getting more information. So, the two stars of Seigaku broke into a deadly sprint dodging more knives that were landing near them. They couldn't see the person who was firing because it was too dark and there was nothing seen. The thing was – they didn't even hear any foot steps making their way towards them. Fuji and Tezuka were just running hoping somehow find a door that led to a room that wouldn't kill them. "Saa~, Tezuka, do you think that the killer is still alive?"

Looks like Fuji knew that too. "Ah," Tezuka replied monotonously.

"I thought so too," the honey haired tensai passed a remark quietly, "this place is acting too coordinated for my liking. Otherwise, things would have been more than shambles. We'd be dead, Tezuka," Fuji continued while another blade has whizzed past his head, "in fact, it's like this place is taunting us. Telling us to run for our lives like lab rats."

Dodging another knife that was sent his way, Tezuka continued running until he found a door. "Fuji, in here."

The two quickly opened the door and slammed it behind them. More knives flew and punctured the door while they leaned against it. "Saa," Fuji smiled while trying to regain his breath, "quite fits our little theory no? Because other than that," he poked Tezuka who was breathing heavily next to him, "I've got no other theory except it involving the supernatural. Things don't just happen like that, Tezuka."

The bespectacled captain had to agree; things were happening too well and too coordinated that it was almost humanely done. They have to find the person who was doing this or rather; they have to find the killer before things got worse. Tezuka stood up to look around and examine where they were. They were in another part of the house and the worst part was: they didn't have Mayumi to help them. "Fuji, you don't happen to have a map of the place do you?"

Fuji sighed while checking his pockets. "I dumped out everything in the room that we just came from. I don't remember finding any blue prints."

Tezuka somehow wanted to go off swearing profanities but he kept his cool. He calmed himself a little while looking at the furniture. "Looks like we're in an office."

The honey haired tensai began opening drawers. "There would be more things here. Think there would be any good things here?"

"There should be something that the killer missed out on," his bespectacled stoic captain stated while checking out the other drawers, "a killer always has a trace no matter how well he tries to conceal it."

Fuji inwardly chuckled at Tezuka's seriousness while he focused on the mystery; Fuji knew one thing and that was: if there was anyone who could solve a mystery and would have fun doing it, it would be his best friend. Tezuka was always the one to read things about crime and mystery and his head to seem to swirl in all of that. He looked at Tezuka who was examining more things, checking things down to the very last detail and of course, trying to find theories that would seem fit. "Saa, find anything?"

Tezuka picked up a piece of paper. "I think so."

The two then peeked at the paper and it showed a picture of a family. Fuji assessed. "Must be the Kiritsuga family."

The hazel haired bespectacled captain of Seigaku scanned the picture and noticed that it had been carelessly stuck together. "Looks like we found the other halves of the photo you found, Fuji."

The blue eyed tensai nodded while he continued to look. Tezuka however noticed a shadow hovering behind them and he grabbed Fuji. "Duck!"

The two rolled on the ground while they saw an axe hack through the cabinet that they were leaning on a few moments ago. Scrambling to their feet, the stars of Seigaku made a mad dash out of the room while the axe coming after them when its hacking its way through everything. Fuji continued running while he looked back a few times. "Saa~, seriously, things have been coming after us ever since we started delving deeper and deeper. Do you think that the killer knows and these things that are attacking us aren't real?"

Tezuka looked back for a few moments while watching silver glint in the darkness while he heard wood being hacked in half every few moments. "Fuji, despite everything, all the things that have been happening here have been already defying the laws of reality. But I think you're right – we're in the same playing field as the killer now. He's looking for us and he wants to make sure he finishes us all off one by one. He thought that the spectres could do it but I guess we outsmarted them."

The honey haired tensai looked at the axe that was hacking its way through as splinters flew into the air. "Saa, I guess. But, what about the others? Do you think Shishido---?"

"Yeah," Tezuka though he didn't want to say much, he had a feeling that Shishido had found their answer. "I think Shishido was taken by the killer. He knows that we're solving it and he knows that we won't leave if one of us is missing. Let alone if Atobe realizes that Shishido is missing but the one he would affect the most is," Tezuka continued, "is his doubles partner."

"Ohtori," Fuji mouthed quietly, "and everyone knows: Ohtori will not play doubles with anyone except Shishido."

"Which gives us more the reason," Tezuka continued, "to find him because not only will his parents freak out but also many other people would be affected by his sudden disappearance."

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Atobe on the other hand was with Kabaji who just seemed to follow him everywhere he went. The icy eyed king of Hyotei continued being cautious of where he stepped because he wasn't sure of what would appear next. Sure he had insight but somehow, it didn't work with all these spectres coming out and all these events happening one after the other. "Arn~, who knew Shishido was going to become a target, nah, Kabaji?"

"Usu," the bigger kohai replied while following after Atobe.

The captain of Hyotei continued walking while searching for Ohtori's missing doubles partner. He himself could not afford to lose Shishido; the latter had already proven himself to be an asset to the team and here he was: missing and making Ohtori worry his ass off for him. "Well, Ohtori did make Shishido worry so now," –he began looking at the doors, "it's the other way around."

Atobe continued walking until Kabaji suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. "Kabaji, what's wrong?"

The kohai didn't say anything because he was expressionless and he didn't seem to notice that something was now chewing on his leg. In horror, Atobe kicked it hard and gave a duh stare to Kabaji. "Kabaji, didn't you notice that it was gnawing at your leg? Geez," Atobe thought he would have had a heart attack, "Ore-sama thought you were going to keep walking while that thing gnawed on your leg."

"Gomen," Kabaji's apology sounded softly into Atobe's ears.

The place was deathly quiet and this irritated Atobe. He was used to the Hyotei regulars screaming left and right that once a place was deadly silent, he would go insane. "Kabaji, do you think the others found him already because frankly," –Atobe's tone becoming low, "ore-sama thinks we should head back."

Kabaji pointed to the ground while tugging the captain's jacket. "Atobe," –he showed it to him, "look. Shishido's…"

Atobe didn't get what he was referring to until he saw a very familiar blue cap lying on the floor. "You're right, this is," –examining it carefully, "it's, no, it can't be. Shishido's cap has a bite mark on it. Beat gnawed at it one time when the latter came to the house."

However, there was a heavy thump that came from behind and Atobe turned around only to see Kabaji being dragged away. "Kabaji!"

The kohai didn't answer him until Atobe felt something heavy hit him also. He felt something intoxicate his sense of smell while his other senses grew dimmer. "How? Ore-sama didn't even sense…"

With that, Atobe suddenly dropped to the ground and all he remembered, was hitting the carpet cold floor.

-That's Chapter 15! Please review!


	16. Seeing the Killer

(I don't own Prince of Tennis!)

Chapter 16 – Seeing the Killer

The regulars waited for the others to return but none of them came. Oshitari started running his fingers through the photos and evidences. "Geez, there's so much of these pieces and we don't even know where to start." With his hands behind his head, he was ready to give in.

Kikumaru began sifting through the evidence too. "There's so much to look at, nyah. Where are Fujiko and Tezuka anyway?"

Echizen looked at the pictures warily. "Oishi-senpai, did they say anything about finding their bodies?"

Oishi took one of the newspapers with a mournful smile. "They didn't say anything about finding their bodies. They just said that they were burned badly."

The freshman prodigy of Seigaku handed the paper to the vice captain. "It doesn't say what happened to all the siblings. It was all mentioned here, Sayami-san was found dead and so was Shina-san. Also, Kiritsuga Tai was also found dead. All the siblings were mentioned and including the parents and every attendant of the house all except one."

Inui took a look at the article that Echizen was holding in his hand. "They never mentioned if Yoshiro was dead now, did they?"

Taki took a look at it. "You're right. They never mentioned anything about Yoshiro so, wait a minute," –his eyes widened by the second, "do you think, he's still alive?"

"That could be our only answer," Oshitari continued looking through the papers, "in fact – he could be here in this house right now. This place is too well maintained and you know what they say: those who were witnesses or even the killer themselves always return to the scene of the crime somehow. So, he should be here and I think he may have taken Shishido. We can also now prove that he may have taken Atobe, Kabaji and the others."

Momoshiro's eyes widened. "Aw man, even if I am scared of Fuji-senpai and Tezuka-buchou, that doesn't mean I won't help find them!"

Kaidoh hissed at the thought of them dead. "Let's hope that they're still in one piece."

Oshitari looked at his watch until he realized that it didn't work but what shocked him was that now, it was working. The watch was ticking normally and the weird part was that it was on the exact date. He remembered what day he had entered the house with the regulars. It was on the exact date and he then realized that he had been in that house for a week now. Luckily they were on Summer Break but still, they had championships to win and they were hell bent to make sure Rikkai Dai didn't get their third win in a row. "But still, how do we get out? We haven't even found the killer yet."

Momoshiro started heading towards the door. "I'm gonna look for them. I mean – I think we should since you know, it's probably the only way we could get information faster?"

Oishi didn't like the idea. "No Momo, stay here. We already sent out three search parties. I don't think we need more people to go missing."

They all stared at Momoshiro stupidly for a moment until Kawamura offered. "I can go with him."

Echizen pulled down his cap to conceal his fear. "Just be careful, senpai-tachi."

Jirou yawned again and fell asleep and the only ones strong enough to carry him were Kabaji and Kawamura. "We'll wait here then."

Momoshiro and Kawamura left while the other regulars were in the room. Inui began scribbling on his notebook. "There's an eighty five percent chance that Shishido, Atobe and Kabaji have found the killer. However, there is a fifty percent chance that Fuji and Tezuka will also have bumped into him."

Kaidoh however found something in the papers. "No one said that Yoshiro was a musician. Concert level musician, that is."

They looked at the paper for a moment and Inui adjusted his glasses. "It says here that he never managed to succeed in his career because of the saddening songs he played and most of his pieces came from famous composers."

"Hey," Kikumaru's eyes widened, "guys, wasn't there a violin in here?"

They looked at the case that Kikumaru was holding and Oshitari peeled off the sticker. "It's a fake. Whoever lives in here probably has the real violin."

Oishi began panicking. "Oh no! What if Fuji got hurt? What if Tezuka got killed or something?" Well, he wasn't called the mother of Seigaku for nothing.

Inui then began scribbling. "There is a ninety percent chance that Tezuka and Fuji are still alive –." This allowed Oishi to relax.

"However, there's a ninety nine percent chance that they will meet the killer and get amnesia," the data man of Seigaku finished which caused Oishi to drop.

Kikumaru dove down instantly. "Aibou! Nyah, don't scare Oishi like that, Inui! You meanie~!"

Echizen continued to look through the papers until he saw something that caught his eye. "Hey, why is he here? Not just in the portrait but also in the newspaper."

"Who?" The regulars crowded behind him almost immediately.

They looked at the picture and Kikumaru gaped. "He looks like ochibi nyah!"

Inui wrote in his notebook. "There's only one other person who looks like Echizen asides from his father."

Taki shook his head. "It's definitely not Ryouji. The guy doesn't look the least bit like Echizen."

"Because it's not," Oshitari pointed at the article, "check out what his name is."

Echizen bit his lip at the name while turning away. "That cowardly ass."

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Tezuka and Fuji apparently were still roaming the hallways. If the two stars of Seigaku found Ohtori, then the bigger chance of them finding Shishido. "Saa, did you notice that nothing bad has happened to us yet? Nothing has tried to kill us yet."

Aside from the axe coming at them the last time they checked, Tezuka did notice that. "Ah."

Fuji observed the dark hallways. "Seems like there's more than what meets the eye, Tezuka."

The bespectacled captain didn't answer and all because his mind was immersed in something else. He was trying to figure out the crime and pin point the killer. Massaging his temples, Tezuka continued walking. "I'll need an aspirin when this is over," he continued to observe and assess the situation, "besides, why did they choose us for the job? The police just got another missing person cases. I don't even remember how long we've been in this house. My watch is dead," –Tezuka took a look at his watch and saw that it was working normally now, "my watch wasn't working the last time I checked."

Fuji saw a different look in Tezuka's eyes. "Tezuka, is there something wrong?"

"Check your watch," his mind now coming up with something new.

The honey haired blue eyed genius checked his watch and discovered that it was working normally. "But how did it suddenly start working? When we entered this house, the watches were dead."

"Magnetic fields," Tezuka knew that those things were the only things that could stop a watch, "this place is still wired. Fuji, check the walls."

The two soon started searching the walls until the tensai felt something metal and his watch died again. "Looks like you were right, Tezuka."

The bespectacled captain examined the magnetic fields and they were very recent too. The fields looked like they have just been placed after the fire. "Someone's still here and for all we know, he could be the killer. If he is then, he would be doing something like this and the killer's making sure we stay missing for the rest of our lives. Or if he knows that we're solving it – we're going to make sure we don't get careless."

Fuji grimaced at the thought of dying. "Though I enjoy people being miserable, I wouldn't like to die this early."

While they were walking, they heard something being dragged on the ground. "Sounds pretty heavy," Fuji noted, "it's coming from up ahead. Want to check it out?"

Tezuka had curiosity biting him. "Yeah, we should."

The two crept closely when they noticed a pair of black pants and loud grunts coming from the one who was dragging the body. Tezuka heard something drop on the floor and it glistened in the darkened hallway. When the figure vanished, Fuji and Tezuka sprung from their hiding places and found a watch. It was glistening in its shiny glory and fanciness while Fuji ran his fingers on it. "Didn't one of the Hyotei Regulars have this kind of watch, Tezuka?"

"Yeah," Tezuka had suspicions about the heavy man that the man was dragging, "one named Atobe Keigo. If I'm not mistaken, he was with Kabaji and so, the big thing he was dragging must've been Kabaji then. The only thing is: who was that?"

Chuckling inwardly, Fuji pointed ahead. "He couldn't have gotten very far. Kabaji isn't exactly what you call feather weight."

Tezuka found a way to trace the perpetrator. "Neither is Atobe known to be quiet."

Darting forward, the two stars made their way to the man as stealthily as possible. However, something had stopped Fuji in his tracks. "Tezuka, Shishido's cap is blue right?"

Tezuka looked at the cap that the tensai was holding. "Yes, why?" he recalled Shishido constantly wearing a blue cap.

"Looks like the killer got Shishido too." With a mad burst of adrenaline, the boys bolted faster than ever until they found themselves meeting a wall. Fuji fell backwards on Tezuka who managed to hold himself up despite the weight of Fuji. "Look who's talking," Tezuka adjusted his glasses, "you're not exactly that light either, Fuji."

The tensai chuckled at their predicament. "He must've been a ghost then."

"Then tell me, how did Atobe and Kabaji go through a wall if he's a ghost?" Tezuka raised an eyebrow. "Kabaji would be too big to phase through a wall and Atobe isn't exactly spiritually sensitive."

Fuji started feeling out the wall while looking around. "Mayumi just made us go through walls and floors and I don't see any switches here though. Care to explain how they disappeared?"

Tezuka looked at the drawers and soon began feeling out the walls. There was nothing, nada and zilch. He was not only getting frustrated but deep down, he was terrified because now they were in a maze with the killer and the latter could strike at any moment he wanted. Thing is – they were just middle school students and they were playing a game with a psychotic killer who seemed to know every move they were making. "We have to find out who he will strike next. I don't even find a pattern in his attacks. First Shishido, Atobe, Kabaji," –then it hit him, "Fuji, forget them for now."

Fuji looked at Tezuka awkwardly. "Tezuka, what's on your mind now?"

The bespectacled captain turned heel and began bolting with furious adrenaline. "We have to find Ohtori and Mukahi before the killer does. He's targeting the Hyotei Regulars first."

The honey haired tensai revealed his cerulean pools. "Seigaku will soon follow am I right?"

"Which gives us more the reason," –Tezuka found Fuji running next to him, "to find Ohtori and Mukahi before he does. Because at least, we can predict who the next victim is going to be."

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Ohtori and Gakuto were still looking around for Shishido but there was no sign of him. But, what had scared them the most was the arm that was lying on the floor in a pool of blood. "D-do you think they cut off Shishido's arm, Mukahi-senpai?" Ohtori shuddered at the thought of Shishido losing his arm.

Mukahi took a look at it with disgust. "Hey, this ain't Shishido's arm!"

Ohtori sighed in relief. "For a moment there, I really thought they sawed off his arm, Mukahi-senpai."

The magenta haired acrobat picked it up and began examining it more closely. "It's so obvious that this isn't his arm! I mean, it's too small to be his and there's supposed to be a faded permanent marker mark on his body because I was playing with the markers that time. I remember the time Shishido nearly clobbered me with a book because of that." He hooted with laughter when the memory returned to him when he was in first year.

Though he wanted to laugh with the acrobatic senpai of Hyotei, the taller silver haired regular couldn't help but feel that there was something watching them. "Hey Mukahi-senpai, do you feel something? Like something's watching us?" Ohtori thought he was just being paranoid.

Mukahi stared at him stupidly. "Of course I do, that's why we have the sense of touch," –laughing at his own pun, Mukahi's face then became serious, "but funny matters aside, yeah, I do. There's something watching us and I don't think it wants us alive." Apparently, Ohtori wasn't paranoid and this heightened the two's alertness for the situation.

Out of the blue, they heard some violin music and Ohtori closed his eyes to identify the piece. "This is, the Funeral March of Sebastian Bach!"

The acrobat stared at Ohtori. "What do you mean "the Funeral March"? No one knows how to play the violin except you and Yuushi! Besides, who plays musical pieces in the middle of nowhere?"

Ohtori looked around and he noticed the portraits to be swinging back and forth. "Mukahi-senpai," he shivered.

Gakuto didn't need to be told with what he saw. "Yikes! Living paintings! Run!"

The two broke out in a very fast run and the paintings continued to swing widely. Some even tore off from their places on the wall and started crawling towards them. "Mukahi-senpai, when did paintings grow arms and legs!?"

"I don't think they had any to begin with!" Gakuto darted forward.

There were so many twists and turns that drove them both crazy. The walls then started echoing sounds of groans and hisses of pleasure. None that the two found pleasant to the ears. Ohtori kept looking around for a turn where they could lose the paintings but there was none. "Mukahi-senpai, what do we do now?"

Gakuto frantically search until he finally made a turn while grabbing the silver haired kohai. "Follow me!"

Without having any time to react, Ohtori nearly stumbled on Gakuto and they slammed each other against the wall. Breathing heavily, Ohtori felt his heart jump out of his body. "Do you think the paintings are still there?"

The magenta haired acrobat was terrified to check. "I hope not!"

The two stayed against the wall for a moment until they finally recomposed themselves. "I think we should get going." Gakuto turned around only to find a painting lying in front of him. "AAAAAAAAH, THE PAINTING'S POSSESSED!"

Ohtori found his senpai's face to be completely pale. "Mukahi-senpai, I don't think painting's walk," however, his thoughts changed when he saw it dragging itself across the floor crawling towards them. "Yeah, we should run!"

Mukahi's legs didn't hesitate to start running "See??? I told you so!"

The two broke into a sprint towards the other direction hopefully losing the portrait however, the two only managed to knock into something heavy thus knocking the two out almost immediately. "Now that wasn't hard. I almost have the entire Hyotei collection." The perpetrator chuckled while he carried off the two

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Momoshiro and Kawamura weren't having much luck either. They haven't found their buchou or Fuji yet. "Buchou, Fuji-senpai! Where are you?"

Kawamura being his usual timid self was getting quite wary of the surroundings. "Momo-chan, I don't think they're here in this hallway. I think we made a wrong turn."

"Yeah," sheepishly scratching his head, Momoshiro was now unsure of where to go. First, he thought he was on the right track and now they were completely lost. "Damn it, we're so dead if the killer appears right now! Taka-san, do you think that Fuji-senpai and Tezuka-buchou found the killer?"

The sushi chef in training shrugged. "Maybe," he didn't want to cause any discomfort to Momoshiro since he was already riled up by the fact that they were missing. "I'm sure they're fine, Momo-chan."

The black haired jack knife teen specialist continued to search high and low until he heard his stomach growl. "Damn, I haven't eaten in awhile. Taka-san, do you have sushi with you?"

Kawamura shook his head. "Sorry. But, I think I should make some when this mystery's over. Everyone's getting agitated by the issue."

Momoshiro knew that Kawamura's sushi is something that no one would want to miss. "Yeah! I'm gonna eat an entire tray if someone doesn't stop me! I can't wait to have more of the Anago sushi and the Tamago and all the kinds of sushi in the world! I want a cheese burger too." Momoshiro forgot his fear almost immediately.

Kawamura laughed at Momoshiro's obliviousness but couldn't help but keep worrying. "Fujiko-chan has always been my doubles partner. I wonder where he is. I hope he's not in a mess he can't get himself out of. But, Tezuka-buchou's with him so, I don't think I need to be worried but I can't help it."

"Taka-san!" The two heard a voice they were very familiar with.

Momoshiro turned around and didn't see anyone. "Fuji-senpai? Are you a ghost?"

"Saa, of course not," Momoshiro blinked again to make sure he wasn't blind. "I'm here in the hallway! I'm kinda stuck so, think you can yank me out?"

The two shrugged and went into the deeper part of the hallway while searching warily. "Fuji-senpai?"

"Fujiko?" Kawamura wasn't really comfortable either with the fact that they couldn't see Fuji. "Where are you?"

This time, there was no answer. This got the two boys trembling in fear most especially Momoshiro. "Taka-san, are you sure Fuji-senpai's not dead?"

Kawamura tried to act brave in front of his kohai but if he had his racquet, he would've been much braver. "I'm sure. Fuji's not easy to kill. He is a tensai after all." Though Kawamura was beginning to doubt that and he was starting to think that there was something else within the hallway with them.

Momoshiro frantically began searching. "Fuji-senpai? Tezuka-buchou? Are you there?"

The only thing that answered them was the deafening silence in the hallway. Kawamura decided to try. "Fujiko-chan, I know you're a sadist but isn't this a bit too much?"

There was no answer until a ghoulish laugh filled the hallway. "Fujiko-chan? Who is this Fujiko-chan? Is he part of Hyotei as well?" The voice sounding more deep and demonic.

The two clung on to each other for dear life. "Taka-san, are you sure Fujiko-chan was here?"

"I heard him calling me," Kawamura bit his lip, "but, it's really more his thing to scare us like this right?"

Momoshiro lost his fear. "Yeah, I mean – Fuji-senpai has always been a sadist. Even to us."

"Yeah, so there's nothing to be afraid about." Kawamura concluded hoping to calm down his kohai.

Momoshiro snickered at himself. "Yeah, I nearly peed in my pants! Nice try, Fuji-senpai! You really ought to be in charge of the Halloween festivities next time! Tezuka-buchou, are you there?"

However, the laugh became louder and more psychotic_. _"Oh? So there are more of you? Great, I have more toys and things to play with! Who is this Tezuka-buchou? This Fujiko-chan? Most of all, I bet you two know where the others are! Where are they!?"

Momoshiro took a step back revolted. "Okay, I take that all back! Taka-san, let's get out of here!"

However, when he turned around, the brown haired powerhouse was gone. "Some senpai he is," Momoshiro was all alone now and he was in the dark. "I gotta be brave! Mamushi's not going to let me live this down! Come on, Momoshiro! Think! Where do you think Taka-san went?"

"Momo-chan!" The second powerhouse froze at the voice. "Taka-san!?"

"H…elp!" The message was very garbled but Momoshiro managed to make some sense out of it. "Hang on Taka-san!" However, he couldn't reach because he had suddenly tripped on something and his face hit the ground. "What the hell?"

Momoshiro scrambled to his feet until he felt something hit him in the gut. Clutching his body, Momoshiro groaned while making a small _thud_ on the ground. "Hm, there's two of Seigaku. Now, I just need to find this "Fujiko-chan" and this "Tezuka-buchou" they're talking about."

It didn't take him long to find the two stars of Seigaku. They came to him and this lessened his effort in catching the two. Walking down the hallway while dragging the two Seigaku powerhouses he had caught, he found two other teens running in search for something. "They must be Fujiko-chan and Tezuka-buchou. Hm, impressive specimens."

The two however were completely unaware by the fact that they were being watched. Fuji was now getting jumpy with the situation. "Where do you think they are?"

Tezuka looked around until he found a silver necklace hanging on one of the door knobs and he distinctly remembered who wore something like this. "Looks like he got to them too."

Fuji observed it and identified its owner immediately. "That's Ohtori's! That means they should be somewhere here!"

The two stood back to back against each other until they heard something billow in the wind and flap down. "Fuji!" Tezuka was the first to react and he grabbed the tensai before Fuji earned a shoe print on his face. "Who in the world?"

The figure retreated a few metres away from them while something covered the man's face. "Thanks, who is that?" Fuji stared his attacker down with his electric blue eyes.

Tezuka was ready to retaliate if necessary. "Whoever he is, he looks dangerous. Fuji, I know you want to hit him but we're in no position to fight."

The tensai hated it when Tezuka was right about things. "Saa~," –he clucked his tongue, "then we must make a position for ourselves, ne?"

"I wonder," the figure took another step forward, "how a bunch of middle schoolers managed to figure out half the mystery? Not everything is what you think it is, though. I have to admit though, you are impressive specimens." A hint of lust was in his voice.

Fuji drew back horrified while Tezuka was just twitching at the tone in the figure's voice. "You know, my brother taught me something: when you love someone, you don't give them chocolates. You don't give them flowers. Do you know what you should do?"

The two didn't want to know the answer to that but he told them anyway. "You take them! You take them by force and you lock them up! There, they will be yours and no one can interfere. You can torture them in any way you like! You can kiss them senseless, brush your lips against their creamy skin and hear their moans of pleasure and agony! Not only that – you get to watch them try to resist you. Isn't that fun?"

Fuji was already aghast by the fact that this man was telling them such things though he had to admit, half his nature enjoyed it. Tezuka on the other hand if his face showed any emotion at all, he would have shown a sign that he wanted to vomit out whatever he had the other day. "And for the final act," the figure grinned, "is you kill them! So that their blood stains your hands and you can never wash it off! Only then can they truly be yours!"

Tezuka winced at the thought. "What a twisted way of thinking."

Before the captain could react, Tezuka felt his vision get blurry and he heard some glass crack. He was definitely sure those were his glasses but he struggled to keep his eye sight perfect. Fuji on the other hand didn't fare very well against this kind of thing. He may be a genius in tennis but not in everything. "Tezuka!"

The latter snickered when the tensai caught his best friend. He then saw Fuji's steely cerulean blue eyes bearing holes into his soul. "I won't let you run away with that!"

The figure watched Fuji get angry. "Yes, come at me, Fujiko-chan. Though I have to admit a few things, even the word "handsome" won't be good enough to describe you and your little "Tezuka-buchou" looks simply," –licking his lips, "scrumptious."

Fuji was determined to mind rape the man but getting away from him was their first priority. "Fuji," the tensai heard his friend cough out a few syllables, "think you can run?"

The tensai looked at his friend ruefully. "Maybe. Though, it would be more helpful if you could run."

Without warning and with a blade in his hand, the figure charged towards them. "You won't be going anywhere!"

Gasping for air, Tezuka heard the figure's heavy footsteps. "Fuji, stay in your crouching position. Don't move."

Fuji was quizzical at Tezuka's decision but then, he saw the plan come into play. Using Fuji as a support balance, Tezuka managed kick the man in one of the most sensitive parts of the body. "You bastard!" The man seethed through his teeth while he charged again.

Tezuka tried to lay another hit but this time, the man dodged and with amazing agility and strength, he knocked them both out with a single blow.

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Shishido on the other hand couldn't believe what he was looking at. "Wait," he then brushed the thought away from his mind, "no, you can't be him. Who are you anyway? You can't be that guy."

"That guy," the man addressed mournfully, "that's what they all call me. No name recognition or anything. All except Yukihisa. Yes, he was the only one who called me by my name."

The capped regular lowered his cap while mumbling. "You're supposed to be singed. Who exactly are you?"

"I was the butler of this place," the man paced around, "I constantly took care of this house and I came back here to see if any of my things were still intact." The man noticed Shishido being uneasy. "Are you alright, young one? Would you like a drink?"

Shishido shook his head. "Nah, I'm fine. Thing is: why are we talking in the dark? Aren't there any lights in here?" Shishido couldn't help but feel that there was something wrong but he just went on ignoring his gut feeling which was telling him: _Run like your ass is on fire, Shishido! There's a crazy maniac in front of you! He's gonna dice you to pieces!_

"Lights and electricity don't work here." The figure didn't like all the questions Shishido was tossing at him.

"Yeah right," the capped half of the Silver Pair snorted, "that's a load of bullshit. I went to a room full of lights and electricity and even the damn air conditioning was working. What do you mean there's no electricity? You're hiding something and I know it! So open the damn light now!"

Shishido swore that he saw a Cheshire cat grin appear on the man's face. "Alright. If you want to see them so badly then, why stop you?"

The man clicked on a certain switch and Shishido saw it all. The Hyotei Regulars hanging on one side namely Atobe, Kabaji, Mukahi and Ohtori. "See?"

The dash specialist stumbled back a little. "What the--? How did they get here!? Who the hell are you?"

"Ah yes," the man grinned, "the wonders of facial masks." Ripping it off, he revealed his true face which was badly scarred by marks which were created by fire.

Shishido's eyes widened when he remembered the photo he saw. "Kiritsuga Yoshiro…"

Yoshiro laughed maniacally. "Yes, I know. A burned face really didn't suit me. Why do you think they never found my body? So," holding up a little taser, he explained, "I plan on injecting my DNA into one of these people. The Atobe kid looked okay. I just got the big bear as a bonus. He could be useful."

Shishido didn't want to know what he was going to do to his doubles partner. "Harm Ohtori in anyway and I'll make sure your face is uglier than it already is!"

Yoshiro didn't seem affected by his retort. "Really, I wonder," then the door opened while Yoshiro greeted, "thanks Tai."

"Tai? Isn't he," Shishido gaped in horror when he saw the man's body. The man's body was half animal; a gorilla rather and the only thing that seemed human was half his face.

"The news never said I experimented on people." Yoshiro's eyes had a malicious gleam. "Tai died until I managed to teach one of Shina's pet how to be loyal to me," –turning to the gorilla man, "you brought me more specimens. Wonderful. I like the brunettes though," –referring to Fuji and Tezuka, "they exceeded all my expectations."

Tai grunted while he left them on the floor. "Can I have the bespectacled one? He's so beautiful…"

"You idiot," Yoshiro growled, "why should I give him to you when you couldn't even tell an Atobe apart from a commoner? You got this capped idiot and I had to find "Atobe-buchou" myself!"

Tai cowered at the man's anger when Yoshiro raised his blade. "You've outlived your usefulness, sayonara."

-That's chapter 16! Please review!


	17. Running and Trying To Thwart

(I don't own Prince of Tennis!)

Chapter 17 – Running and Trying to Thwart

"Please don't kill me!" Tai scrambled away towards the wall.

Yoshiro continued to menacingly glare at Tai. "You have no use! You fail me constantly! Again and again and again! How many times will you fail before you get things right you useless fool!?"

While the two got into an argument, Shishido watched Yoshiro take a menacing advance towards the hybrid animal man while trying to sort himself out. Looking around, Shishido used the man as a distraction while trying to find a way how to free the regulars and tell the others who the killer was. "Ohtori," –trying to wake up his doubles partner, "hey, get up! Ohtori, will you stop being an idiot and wake up! Come on; don't knock out on me now!"

Yoshiro turned around only to thwart Shishido's plans to escape. "Leaving so soon? But the fun's just begun, you can't leave yet!"

The capped regular was at a loss upon what to do. The man was armed and a psychotic killer and he certainly did not have the upper strength to carry the regulars out. Bringing them out one at the time too seemed to be a bad idea until something popped into the boy's mind. "Alright, let me see you try and catch me!"

Using his dash like movements, Shishido quickly outran Yoshiro and stole the keys but before he could make another move, Tai grabbed his leg. "I got you now, you little brat."

Shishido struggled against the iron grip. "Che, I'm anything but little and secondly – I'm not a brat!"

Tau continued to keep a firm grip on Shishido. "It's too late, kiddo! You're hopeless!" With these words, he twisted Shishido's ankle and dislocated his knee which limited Shishido's movement.

Gritting his teeth in pain, Shishido fell to the ground while Yoshiro picked up the keys and directed his attention towards something else. "So, we have four from Seigaku and five from Hyotei. All in all we have nine which means eight more brats to find. So, I get to have a wider selection. Tai, go find them!"

Without any complaint, the man stood up while Shishido watched the man's heavy footsteps trudge towards the door. "You know - I would have never found any use for that man but then again, I did." He turned towards the fallen Shishido. "You want to know what really happened here, boy. I can tell you – I was jealous. Yes, everyone knows that but who was I jealous of?" A maniacal grin spread across his face while Shishido struggled to move away. "Damn, you're insane. Anyone ever tell you you're related to the Joker?"

Yoshiro grabbed Shishido by the collar. "Well, let me tell you: I hated her! That witch who took my love away! The one who had a kid with him! I hated them all! He was so kind and loving like an angel and she just had to taint him!" With a heavy amount of force, Yoshiro flung Shishido towards the wall and the said boy crashed against an unconscious Kabaji. "She turned him into a whore! He was mine! He was my favorite brother! I taught him everything – I gave him everything and then what happens? He falls in love with some shameless hussy!"

Shishido was avoiding his maniacal lecture. "I gotta find a way out. Kabaji's out like a light and Atobe's hanging like a pork chop. Great, what a situation I'm stuck in. This is so uncool."

The man drew a knife. "You're so ugly that I just want to carve your face! I'd carve you into the face of my perfect love."

"Damn," Shishido leaned against the wall for support. He was getting nowhere and he had no idea how to get out of there. He saw Seigaku on the floor unconscious while the Hyotei regulars hung on the wall by the chains. He desperately looked for a door but there was none and Yoshiro was making his way towards Atobe and the others. He couldn't think of anything but there was one idea but it was a huge gamble. "I have to get those keys again. Otherwise, we'll be stuck in this torture chamber for the rest of our lives."

Despite his knee being unstable, Shishido managed to get up with the help of the wall. Watching the man's movement's carefully, Shishido knew he had to be meticulous about this plan. "Alright, here goes nothing. Good luck Shishido, may kami-sama bless me if I die because of this attempt."

With a well positioned lunge, Shishido managed to throw himself towards the man and knock the keys out of his hand. The keys rattled and slid towards Momoshiro who was still out like a light while Shishido and Yoshiro grappled each other. At first, Shishido had the upper hand after he had kicked the guy in the stomach but then, the man locked his hands on Shishido's neck. "Nice try, boy. You're going to have to do better than that!"

Gasping desperately for air, Shishido kicked furiously against his opponent but he had no luck. He felt his body numbing and his vision started to fog up. "Great, I'm going to end up on the wall too. Maybe I'll be dead before then."

Yoshiro continued strangling him with a snigger. "Do you want to know something? If you truly love someone – then, you should kill them! Why? Because you will forever remember that their blood stained your hands! You will know that they will belong to you forever! I killed them all! Most especially Yukihisa – he was mine and that woman took him away! I'm not going to be sentenced to a jail cell for something so righteous! I saved him! Why doesn't anyone realize that?"

The man's maniacal smile was the last thing that Shishido thought he would see again until he heard something clobber Yoshiro on the head. "Gakuto, how the hell did you get out? You were hanging over there a minute ago."

Rolling Yoshiro off Shishido, the magenta haired acrobat winced while he checked his hand. "Wiggling out of those things ain't easy. Where are the keys anyway?"

Shishido heard a lock fall off when he saw Momoshiro hauling Ohtori unto his back. "Hey. Where have you guys been? Everyone's been worried sick about you!"

Gakuto took the keys from the black haired powerhouse of Seigaku. "Well, we were looking for this capped moron who happened to vanish out of the middle of nowhere!"

The silver pair component glared. "I got snuck upon! I didn't have much time to react and the next thing I knew it – I was in a torture room like you idiots!"

Helping the Hyotei regulars lean against the wall, Gakuto looked at Seigaku. "Wow, Tezuka and Fuji got clobbered too. That's a sight to see."

Shishido noticed a shoe mark on the man's stomach. "I guess one of you guys nailed him in the gut too, huh?"

"My best bet's Fuji-senpai." Momoshiro propped up the three Seigaku third years against the wall. "Buchou's not really into violence and Taka-san was with me."

They heard a groan from the side and found Atobe shaking himself awake. "Arn~, where did ore-sama end up now?"

Shishido saw Yoshiro stirring a little. "No time to explain. We have to get out of here. The murderer here sent out his accomplice to get the others!"

Gakuto was a little stunned by Shishido's observation. "The murderer, you mean – Kiritsuga Yoshiro was the one?"

The capped regular noticed Ohtori wasn't getting up. "Mukahi, what happened to Ohtori?"

The magenta haired acrobat spared a glance towards Ohtori. "We got hit by something metal and then, we both conked out. We don't know how we got here but I think he woke up first."

"How about your captain, is he up?" Shishido was silently praying at least one of the captain's were awake.

Momoshiro noticed a hint of movement in Tezuka's legs. "Yeah, I think he's trying to feel out his body! Buchou, you okay?"

Tezuka finally managed to shake himself out of the daze. "Ah. Where's everyone else?"

"We don't know! We just found ourselves here! Fuji-senpai and Taka-san are still out and so are Ohtori and Kabaji!" Momoshiro noticed Yoshiro rising up to his feet while gripping a knife tightly. "Eep, we better go now, buchou! I don't think I want to stay on his menu!"

Tezuka helped Fuji pull himself together while Kawamura was helped up by Momoshiro. "I know. The only thing that's missing is a door. Other than that – we can't get out."

"There's a door." A muffled voice came from behind Momoshiro and Shishido noticed it. "Ohtori, you're alright! Where's the door?"

"I think," Ohtori's voice was still a little hoarse, "you have to press the third block on the wall. It's on the fifth row from the bottom, I think."

Shishido made his way to the wall and began feeling it out. "Darn, third block, fifth row from the bottom. Where are you? Aha!"

With a good kick, Shishido watched the wall slide over to reveal a passageway. "We have to find the others. Hopefully, they didn't get caught by the ugly gorilla."

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Back at the room, none of the teams have returned and Oishi was starting to worry. "Do you think Tezuka and Fuji are okay? I mean – Momoshiro and Taka-san haven't come back either."

Jirou began clinging on to Oshitari. "I want a pillow."

The blue haired kansai prodigy stared at the boy who was sleeping on his back already. "Jirou, I'm sure that Atobe and the others will be back soon." He didn't want to be Jirou's pillow and he himself was worried for his doubles partner no matter how irritating the latter could be.

"Nyah~, it's awfully quiet! Do you think that they're lost in the house?" Kikumaru started wincing at the thought of dead Seigaku regulars.

Oishi didn't like the thought of that either. "I hope not. Mayumi," –turning to the ghost girl, "do you think you can find them?"

However, this time, there was no answer. The Hyotei ace began looking around for the ghost. "She's gone. It looks like she chickened out before us."

"Or her time staying down her was up before we knew it." Oshitari began looking through things again. "Echizen, you said you knew the guy on the newspaper? Who was that?"

Echizen lowered his cap down in annoyance. "A useless ass named Ryoga."

Taki continued listening in. "Wait, does that Ryoga happen to have green hair and red eyes?"

Oshitari glanced at the photos while the capped Seigaku prodigy didn't show the shock that Taki knew that. "Yeah, why are you asking?"

"Because he was captain of the other team and his last name is Echizen if I'm not mistaken." Taki spared a side glance towards the capped regular of Seigaku.

The Hyotei regulars looked at Echizen who just let out a grunt. "Mada mada dane, what's so important about him?"

The blue haired kansai prodigy adjusted his glasses. "Well, his real name isn't Echizen. It's actually Kiritsuga Ryoga which means one thing – he's a living relative."

Echizen's eyes widened at the sound of that. "So, am I supposed to care?"

Oishi sighed at Echizen's uncaring attitude towards his adoptive older brother. "Echizen, I know you're not really on good terms with Echizen-san but we have to tell him sooner or later."

Kaidoh let out a hiss. "But still where is he anyway? The last time we saw him was on that ship with that Sakurafubuki guy and after he had dumped Echizen into the water."

Before the conversation could progress any further, the remaining regulars found a group of heavily panting regulars falling in. Oishi's motherly instincts kicked in. "Fuji-kun, Tezuka, what happened?"

The blue eyed tensai looked behind him. "We were right; the killer is still alive. He's still in here and he knows."

Echizen raised an eyebrow. "Fuji-senpai, does he look like a dark haired man with a rabid look in his eye?"

Fuji didn't know how Echizen knew that. "Saa~, he does look like that. Why is that?"

Oshitari winced at the thought and knew he was going to regret it. "You might want to take a look behind you."

Without any warning, the man jumped them with his accomplice. The regulars scattered out all wanting to find a way out. Atobe dodged a knife that nearly skewered him while Hiyoshi got a lamp post to block the flying projectiles. Shishido dashed away from the attacking projectiles but it was considerably hard due to his injuries. Jirou who was sleeping through the entire thing dropped to sleep on top of Oshitari who was in no mood to carry him but didn't have any choice in the matter. "So you all figured it out," –a smile formed at the man's face, "amazing for a couple of middle school students."

Hiyoshi saw the face and recognized it immediately. "Kiritsuga Yoshiro. No wonder they couldn't find your body. You were still alive."

"Of course I am still alive." Yoshiro hissed with annoyance. "everyday, I live in this stupid house! I hear nothing but thumping, scratching on the walls and even some screaming! But you know why I never left – it's because it sounds so soothing! All those people I've murdered that day deserve it! My brother was going to turn into a brainless vegetable because of them! I'm glad that I did it! I hated that woman too! She was the root of his tainting! I lost him because of her!"

Gakuto was still a bit confused. "Wait, so where's the Orishoy guy? Where did he go?"

Shishido resisted the urge to kick him. "You moron, he was never here to begin with! Read the name backwards."

The magenta haired acrobat thought back for a moment. "Orishoy… Yoshi –oh yeah, you're right!"

Ohtori didn't understand why he did all that. "But why did you kill all those women and children? They didn't have any fault in this!"

"They did!" Slamming the knife into the wall, Yoshiro advanced towards him while screeching. "They turned him straight! He was supposed to be mine! All mine!"

Kaidoh cringed at the man's shrill voice. "So, what was your gain in all this? You keep saying he's supposed to be yours but who are you talking about?"

Yoshiro paid no attention to Kaidoh the moment he saw Oshitari. "Yukihisa, you're still alive? My god," a bright smile was appearing on his face. "I knew we would meet again!"

Oshitari took a step back completely aghast. "My name's not Yukihisa. I don't even look anything like him." His tone was calm while he was disguising the disgust in it. He didn't understand how he looked like Yukihisa when a bespectacled brunette from Seigaku and Rikkai Dai were a closer description.

"Lutana," Yoshiro turned towards Fuji, "you're here. I knew it! You made it out alive! I thought you burned in hell with all the others?"

Fuji's electric blue eyes focused on Yoshiro. "Lutana's been long gone, Yoshiro. I suggest you put that knife away though and I don't know, maybe I'll have pleasure in slitting you in half."

A dark aura appeared behind Fuji and the regulars weren't sure what to be more scared of: Yoshiro or Fuji's sardonic aura. The honey haired blue eyed tensai made a step forward unafraid for some reason while Yoshiro pointed the blade at him. "I'm going to thrust this in your heart and paint your blood all over the house, Lutana!" Without warning, he charged towards the tensai.

Fuji didn't move for a moment until he stepped aside and Echizen stuck out his foot. The man tripped over it and crashed towards the drawers with a sickening thud. Silence filled the room then and the regulars crowded behind him while Ohtori and Momoshiro helped up some of the knocked down regulars. "Is he going to be alright?"

"I doubt it." Shishido turned away. "A blow to the head is good enough to kill someone, Ohtori. I don't think he'll be getting up in awhile."

Inui clicked a button he had in his pocket. "I'm glad that this tape still had left over space. I've recorded the entire situation into it so, we have evidence."

Atobe didn't like the feeling in the air. "Ore-sama suggests that you don't celebrate just yet."

Echizen looked at Yoshiro's rising body and blood trickled down the man's forehead. "It's killing time."

The regulars stood back aghast and revolted by the scene and when they tried to get out, the door had been locked. In front of them was Tai, Yoshiro's assistant. "Yoshiro-sama, did you call me?"

Yoshiro was angered by Tai's lateness. "You stupid man, you took forever to get here and even I got here before you!" Stomping towards him, Yoshiro began stabbing him furiously over and over. "You useless piece of crap, you do nothing but waste my time! I saved you that day because you were willing to follow me, no matter what the cause and now, you just outlived your usefulness!" Blood splattered on the walls and even on the regulars while Tai's howls echoed in the room.

Shishido turned away from the scene. "That's disgusting."

Kikumaru hid behind Oishi. "Nyah~, that's so scary."

Momoshiro pointed at the door. "Think we should be making a move now?"

Inui hastily shoved the tape recorder into his pocket. "All the data has been collected."

"What about the evidence?" Oshitari glanced at the Hyotei members.

Ohtori held them up with a grin. "I got them, Oshitari-senpai!"

Atobe made the decision everyone had made ever since they got into the house. "Everyone, get out of here now!"

With unanimous votes, the regulars dashed out the room while Yoshiro was killing Tai. As soon as the gorilla man's body slumped to the ground, Yoshiro was determined to kill them as well. "You will never leave this house alive! You will die here and remain chained here forever! You will never see your families again!"

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His loud howls echoed in their ears while they continued running. Hiyoshi looked back at the pathway. "What now, Atobe-buchou?"

Atobe halted for a moment. "Hold on. Ore-sama lost him already. Yoshiro was probably too dazzled to catch up with ore-sama's running prowess."

Before Atobe could continue feeding his ego, a blade whizzed past them and it would've skewered him in the head if not for Gakuto's quick reflex. "You can feed your ego later, Atobe! He's still coming and you so didn't lose him! Damn, how fast can he actually run?"

Echizen had completely forgotten about the book he had been carrying with him but then, he noticed that the temperature started rising. "Buchou, do you smell that?"

Tezuka could smell smoke and he didn't know where it came from. "Ah. But where is it---?"

Oishi began running more frantically. "Tezuka, look at the walls!"

The wood strips on the walls were curling and the whole place started setting itself ablaze. The floors cracked and the walls began to cave in. More bodies began to rise from the ground and crawled after them with amazing speed. Jirou was now wide awake during the entire situation. "Waah, there's more zombies!"

"More like earth bounds." Hiyoshi muttered while he was overtaking Gakuto.

Hyotei and Seigaku immediately forgot their rivalries when they were facing things like this. Atobe even forgot that he was rivals with Tezuka. "I swear if ore-sama gets out of this alive – he's never going to look into a mirror or maybe even step inside a house alone again!"

Tezuka though it didn't look like it, he was quite afraid but he was more focused to getting them to safety rather than him being terrified. "Everyone, slide down the banister."

They found a case of stairs and Kawamura gulped while looking at it. "Not this again!"

"Tezuka, Lutana mentioned something about there being a snake." Fuji looked at the banister with horror when he remembered the time he was sliding with Momoshiro. "I don't think it's a good idea."

"Which do you prefer – sliding down the banister or running from Yoshiro?" Tezuka's question was quick and subtle. He didn't want to argue with Fuji anymore and he himself didn't like his choice but what could they do? The stairs was their only way out and the second half of the staircase was barely even seen.

Echizen was shoved forward by Momoshiro. "Oi Momo-senpai!"

Momoshiro leapt on to the banister while Echizen slid after him. "We better take the banister then because I don't see any other way out!"

Kaidoh hopped on after Momoshiro and Echizen. "I'll beat you to the end, Momoshiri!"

"Urusei, Mamushi!" They heard Momoshiro and Kaidoh start a fight when they were sliding down while Echizen just found himself in between. How did they get the energy or the attention span to do that kind of thing during a situation like this is a complete mystery to them. Kawamura followed after then Kabaji, who was followed by Taki, Inui, Oshitari, Kikumaru, Oishi, Gakuto, Hiyoshi, Fuji, Akutagawa, Ohtori, Shishido and then the two captains came in last. "Here we go!" Shishido slid down the banister after Ohtori.

Tezuka slid behind Atobe down the banister. "I never thought I'd be doing this in my entire life."

"Arn~, even ore-sama thinks it's embarrassing but what can we do? This is our only way of escape!" Atobe looked at the fire which was now burning the banister.

Momoshiro then saw a pair of gold eyes that Fuji was talking about. "Mamushi, we have to jump!"

Kaidoh knew Momoshiro could have his shortcomings but never did he expect it to be now. "Fsssh, are you crazy, Momoshiri? Do you know what the hell you're suggesting?"

For the first time, Momoshiro didn't react to the insult. "Just jump unless you want to be eaten by your cousin then I'm fine with that, Mamushi!"

The bandana wearing player then grabbed a hold of Kawamura and yanked him down. "Sorry senpai."

Momoshiro managed to grab Echizen (though with a lot of protests coming from the younger player) and take him off the banister. Kawamura then grabbed Kabaji who locked his arm around Taki's leg and then the latter pulled down Inui because the bigger kohai was weighing him down followed by Oshitari being yanked and accidentally knocking down the red haired acrobat who accidentally made his partner slip because of his imbalance and then Gakuto got hit by the bottled up commotion and slipped sideways. Grabbing unto Hiyoshi's jacket, the magenta haired acrobat attempted to use Hiyoshi as a hook who slipped in the end because Fuji had knocked him backwards and Jirou hooked himself unto the banister. However, that didn't last forever when Ohtori accidentally kicked Jirou who was followed by Shishido crashing in full force into the silver haired kohai while Tezuka crashed on top of the dash specialist with Atobe tumbling after him. The regulars then laid sprawled out on a floor completely in the dark. "Where are we?" Echizen's voice echoed in the dark.

Momoshiro shook his head. "I don't know, maybe in some dumpster?"

"Stupid peach butt, it's your fault we ended up in the dark!" Kaidoh's hiss caused a commotion again.

Now no longer distracted by the spinning stair case, Momoshiro grabbed what he thought was Kaidoh's jacket. "Urusei, Mamushi!"

"Who's shaking me?" Oishi was wondering why he kept moving back and forth for some strange reason.

"Oops, I thought that was Mamushi." Momoshiro scratched his head sheepishly. "Mamushi, where in hell are you!?"

"How can I tell where I am when I can't see when it's so dark, you damn stupid peach butt?" Kaidoh kicked whoever was on top of him.

Tezuka's voice rang out in the dark. "Momoshiro, Kaidoh, language."

Momoshiro and Kaidoh stopped arguing immediately. "Sorry."

"Ow! Who was that?" A yelp came from the curly haired narcoleptic followed by an "I'm sorry" from the Snake Boomerang specialist.

The kansai prodigy's voice echoed in the dark. "He's actually awake? Who's on top of me then?"

"Yuushi, is that you?" Oshitari let out a sigh when he knew who was on top of him.

Taki struggled with a sigh. "Why does Inui always have to end up on top of me?"

"There's a ninety percent chance that you would end up on top of me, Taki-san." Inui began calculating. "Which means the one under me must be Taka-san, am I right?"

"Yes." A muffled groan came from below Inui. "You're suffocating me, Inui."

Shishido began tossing and turning. "Okay, whoever is sitting on my back, get the hell off me right now!"

"Arn~, ore-sama can feel a pair of glasses who is this?" Atobe began holding a pair of frameless glasses.

Tezuka tried to get off Shishido and get Atobe's hand away from his face. "Atobe," the bespectacled captain of Seigaku wasn't really comfortable in his position either.

Atobe pulled his hand away. "Oh that was you? Alright, let ore-sama sort this out!"

"Che, you'll just make it worse." Shishido sighed while he continued to struggle under Tezuka. "Ohtori, where are you?"

"I think I'm under you, Shishido-senpai," the capped regular then felt a tug on his cap. "Yup, I'm under you."

All of a sudden, they heard a hiss in the background. "Mamushi, stop hissing, it's creepy!"

Kaidoh wanted to hit Momoshiro if only he could see. "I'm not hissing, you baka peach! Maybe that's you!"

"I don't hiss like a snake, baka Mamushi!" Momoshiro shot back but was quite creeped out by the noise.

"Fujiko-chan, did you hear that too?" Kikumaru wasn't exactly comfortable in his position when he found his body being sat on by his partner.

The honey haired tensai began shifting his position which made him kick Echizen and Hiyoshi by accident. "Yeah, I did. Sorry about that, Echizen."

"Mada mada dane, Fuji-senpai." Echizen twisted his body in order to wriggle through.

However, when the lights came on, they found themselves in a deep pit that was full of something that they never thought they'd see.

"HUMAN SNAKES!?" Their eyes widened with horror (minus Tezuka, Kabaji, Hiyoshi and Oshitari) when they watched the snakes dance their way towards them.

-That's Chapter 17! Please review!


	18. Confront the Killer

(I don't own Prince of Tennis!)

Chapter 18 – Confronting the Enemy

Dancing towards the regulars were snakes and much more to have human body parts. Heads of humans were on one set while some even had hands and legs connected to their bodies. "Nyah~, this is so gross! How did Yoshiro find a way to connect a human head to a snake body and make it work like it's normal, nyah!?"

Oishi took a step back. "I don't know, Eiji. But somehow, this seriously takes the cake. We're trapped and we have no way out!"

Atobe began looking around but the snakes were getting closer. They were in a wide ballroom and these people's faces looked so familiar. "These people, ore-sama thinks that they're actually…"

"The body parts of the Kiritsuga family," Tezuka continued to take a few steps back. "That would explain why some body parts of the corpses here were missing."

Momoshiro grabbed Kaidoh. "You talk to them, Mamushi! They hiss like you!"

"Dumbass," Kaidoh whirled around away from the snakes. "Do you actually think they'll listen to someone like me?"

"I see you met many of my relatives." A voice came from above.

They looked up to see a window while Yoshiro was sitting on the ledge. "Yes, what you see now are the remains of the Kiritsuga Family. Shina, Lutana, Sayami, check their faces! They are all snakes and slaves to my command. When I snap my fingers, they will devour you after all – they haven't had a decent meal in years."

Tezuka saw a pigtail haired little girl's head on a snake and recognized it immediately. "Mayumi…"

Echizen pulled down his cap in total disgust. "So, what do we do now senpai-tachi?"

Fuji then handed a steel pipe that was lying on the floor to Kawamura. "Taka-san, this might prove to be useful to you."

The moment Kawamura held it, his whole personality changed. "BURNING LET THEM COME, BABY!"

They all stared at an ever smiling Fuji who seemed to know how to take advantage of Kawamura's sudden personality change. Well, it couldn't be help because once he hits burning mode, he loses fear of everything else around him. Atobe began feeling out the wall. "There's usually something here that opens up. Ore-sama knows that every room has to have a door."

Hiyoshi then picked up a rock and pitched it at one of the snakes which missed by a small inch. The regulars attempted to find a way how to ward them off while Atobe was busy trying to find a way out. The case seemed to be hopeless until Gakuto felt a little garden snake crawl up his leg. "Yipe! There's a snake in my pants! Get it out, get it out, get it out!"

Ohtori managed to get it somehow with it not crawling in completely into Gakuto's shorts and noticed something. "Ryouji-san, is that you?"

The snake seemed to dance in knowledge. _"Yes, it is me, Ryouji! I'm so glad you figured it out!"_

"You don't seem to have mannerisms of a snake." Ohtori looked at the boy's new body. "How did he manage to do this to you?"

"_I don't know exactly, senpai. But all my family members are suffering, pleassse save them!" _The little garden snake hissed pleadingly to the other boy.

Ohtori watched the other snakes crawling towards them. "Okay but, how do you stop them from killing us?"

"_They've been driven crazy because of their lack of food, senpai." _The snake slithered around Ohtori while gently curling around his arm. _"But, the only way to stop them is if someone can somehow whistle. Snakes are known to react to a melody as soon as they hear it but I don't know which one they soothe down to."_

This is when Ohtori's music prowess came in handy. "Hm, do you think a classical piece can soothe them?"

"_I don't see the harm in trying, senpai." _Ryouji fearfully watched his other family members crawl towards them.

Hiyoshi began snapping his fingers. "Hey, quit dazing out! You're about to get eaten and all you're doing is staring at a snake!"

Ohtori took a deep breath and began whistling Johann Pachabel's Canon in D Major and much to the regulars' amazement, they noticed that the snakes elongated their necks and began moving with the music. Atobe stopped to watch Ohtori easily control the snakes by simply whistling a tune. "Ore-sama's very impressed, Ohtori. How did you know that the snakes react to that?"

The silver haired kohai just told Atobe the truth. "Ryouji-san told me that they react to music."

Shishido stared dumbly at his doubles partner. "Choutarou, are you alright? You never spoke to snakes before."

"But I'm sure Ryouji-san spoke to me!" Ohtori defensively spoke while he remembered that he wasn't insane.

Oshitari then found a lever under a pile of stones. "It looks like we found our way out, regulars."

The wall slid open while the regulars ran while Kabaji was told to drag a howling Kawamura who soon dropped the pipe from his hand. "Ah, I'm sorry. Wait, what's going on?"

Without giving Kawamura much time to say anything, the big power house dragged Seigaku's powerhouse while Yoshiro let out a shrill cry. "Don't let them escape!"

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The regulars had no idea anymore upon where they were going but they were making all these twists and turns hopefully to lose whatever was chasing them. "Nyah, what are we going to do? There's no way out of the house and we're just sitting here like ducks! We're not getting anywhere, Oishi!"

The vice captain looked towards his captain. "Tezuka, do you still remember where to go?"

"Doing that would have been pointless, Oishi." Fuji started overtaking Momoshiro. "This place shifts areas every few minutes. There's no way we can tell where we will end up next. However – we might as well try something that might have been considered insane outside but not here."

Echizen turned to his senpai. "And what would that be?"

Fuji pointed to a mirror and Kaidoh's eyes widened. "Senpai, you can't be serious can you?"

Oshitari's eyes were focused on the mirror. "It's either that or we keep running until our legs fall off and we're completely hopeless and dead."

Gakuto stared at the mirrors that were lining the hallway. "Which do we get in then?"

Shishido found a huge mirror hanging on one of the walls. "Want to try this one?"

They exchanged glances at each other and because they no longer had the time to argue, they stopped to look in front of the mirror. "Who should go in first?"

Atobe wouldn't let his fear stop his pride. "Ore-sama will go in first."

They waited for Atobe to phase through the mirror which for some reason, he couldn't. "Arn~, there's something wrong with this mirror. Ore-sama can't phase through it."

"Not only that," Hiyoshi checked the mirror, "I can't see our reflections either."

Tezuka took a look at the mirror while he traced the frame. "It's not a mirror." Pulling it from behind, it actually happened to be a door. "It's a door."

Kikumaru squealed in delight. "Yay, we're not going to get eaten, nyah!"

Fuji made a playful pout. "I wanted to see how it would be like to see Oshitari get eaten."

They all gave the Seigaku tensai a droll stare for a moment while Oshitari smirked. "It would have been interesting as well to see you get eaten."

"Enough with the stupidity," Atobe half shouted, "just get inside the door because ore-sama would like to live through his next birthday!"

Oshitari shrugged. "Not like I care."

Atobe snorted while Oshitari just smirked. Even in desperate times, Oshitari always found a way how to piss Atobe off. Piling into the door, they firmly sealed the door behind them hoping to lose the snakes that were on their tail. "Nyah, why does every room have to be so dark? Well, at least there are no snakes, nyah!"

Oishi felt a lump form at his throat. "Guys, does anyone have anything metal with them?"

They didn't know why Oishi was asking that until Momoshiro dared to inquire. "Oishi-senpai, is it sharp and rusty feeling?"

There was no answer but then again they heard a loud cackle in the dark. "I guess snakes just won't cut it then."

Lights flashed on and they were in a ballroom. Oishi found a fencing blade directly pointing at his Adam's apple while there was Yoshiro sitting down with some strings in his hand. "Welcome to Hitoma's room. She loves turning things into weapons really including little dolls and mannequins. Why don't you say hi to them," moving his fingers adroitly, Yoshiro pulled the strings of one doll. "Go on and say hi, Reiran-chan. Must you be so shy?"

The little girl tilted their head. "Yoshiro-sama, I'm sad."

The regulars stood their agape while they saw the doll talk and move like a human. "That thing," Hiyoshi stood aghast. "Can talk!? How is that even possible!?"

"Yes, I understand, Reiran-chan." With a swift movement of his hand, Yoshiro made the mannequins come to life. "It's because they started dabbling in things that they shouldn't have."

Swords came at them in every direction and Echizen ducked while one frayed his cap. "Wait a minute, why should we be scared if they're just a bunch of dolls?" With a satisfying kick, one mannequin fell into pieces and gave Echizen more room to move around in. "Mada mada dane, kugutsu-shiri."

Yoshiro gave him a maniacal smile. "Don't be so sure, Echizen-kun."

All of a sudden, Echizen felt his body go limp when Yoshiro had shot something at him. Strings with hooks managed to dig into his wrist band, his shorts and his shoes. Some with loopholes wrapped themselves tightly around Echizen's limbs and the freshman prodigy now found his body completely immobile. "Now, you are now under my mercy. You will now see how it is like to kill all the people closest to you, boy!" Running his fingers like a puppeteer's, Echizen couldn't believe what his body was doing. His hand picked up one of the fencing blades and he managed to scuff Momoshiro a bit. "Hey, what gives? I thought we were on the same side, Echizen!"

"It's not my fault!" Echizen spouted off defensively and somehow frantically. "My body's moving by itself, baka-senpai!"

Momoshiro ducked while Echizen thrust the fencing blade towards him. "Oi you better watch where you're slashing, Echizen!"

Echizen had never been so frantic in his entire life. "Sorry senpai."

Atobe found a stray sword and handed it to Momoshiro. "Try and fend off the brat for a moment, will you?"

The black haired dunk smasher began blocking Echizen's advances and soon, he found his body immobile. "Hey, what gives?"

"You think my puppets are flailing uselessly? Then, that's where you are wrong." Yoshiro folded his legs and his arms with a business smile. "This whole place is decorated with nylon strings and thus, when my puppets make you dance, you too will join them!"

Fuji found his arm moving by itself. "I didn't see that coming."

Oshitari already had his legs moving independently. "Neither did I," –the kansai prodigy began trying to snap the strings that were holding his legs captive while also trying to defend himself, "I noticed it only when my legs started moving in the opposite direction. How could I have been so stupid?"

Tezuka was not yet hooked but he couldn't keep doing all the dodging forever. There had to be something that could turn the tables around until he saw Shishido wrestling the strings that had hooked onto to the silver haired kohai. "Stupid strings," –Shishido himself was getting tangled up, "why won't they come off? It might take a little while, Chouta." That somehow gave him an idea. Picking up the fencing blade, he wasn't sure if it could slice but he was praying it would. With a few decent shots, he managed to cut off the mannequin's attacks by aiming for the strings and not at the mannequin's body. "Minna, look for the strings!"

Atobe picked up a fencing sword and began blocking the thrusts and attacks made towards him. "Arn~, at least ore-sama was prepared for something this. Ore-sama no bigi ni yoina."

Kabaji had punched one so hard that it shattered almost immediately. "Usu."

Gakuto flipped over while dodging another shot. "Geez, this is insane. Well – this is practical application of whatever we took in tennis anyway. But I'm still better than you, Kikumaru!"

Kikumaru slid down under the others. "Oh yeah? Then why is it you have a scratch and I have none, nyah!?"

The magenta haired acrobat was about to retort until he felt his left leg suddenly shoot up in the air and kick Jirou. "Yipe, sorry about that!"

Jirou stumbled back while gripping his chin. "That hurt!"

Kaidoh was the only one not panting because of his long stamina. However, he didn't know how long he was going to keep doing this. Though he didn't feel tired, it was almost annoying to keep doing the same thing. "Fsssh, there has to be another way out!"

Inui began calculating his opponent's attacks. "There is a ninety percent chance that he's going to aim for my head." Dodging skilfully, Inui dropped down and swept the mannequin off its feet and with a satisfied smile. "Ii data. There is also an eighty nine percent chance that my wrist will end up moving by itself." Fair enough, the data man of Seigaku noticed his left wrist somehow twitching in order to pick up something. "Ii data."

Kawamura was doing a pretty good job since he accidentally ended up holding a fencing sword which ended up making him swing it like crazy. "BURNING! LET'S SHOW THESE MANNEQUINS WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE OF LIVING THINGS AND DEAD THINGS! GREAT-O!" While howling like a berserker, Kawamura began smashing things and breaking the mannequins into little shards until they were no more.

Where Kawamura gets his berserk like nature and strength remained a mystery to the regulars. He even managed to avoid most of the strings or rather – whenever the strings attached to him, they simply snapped off which explained why his regular's jacket was so torn up already. However, he was one of the very few who still had their bodies under control. Oishi, using his perfect accuracy, had knocked down quite a few only to find out later that his body then started moving by itself. "Fuji, watch out!"

The honey haired tensai ducked the vice captain's fist only to get hit by Jirou's left leg and Hiyoshi's right. "Our enemies just keep multiplying, ne?" With a swift kick, Fuji sent another mannequin flying and cracking into pieces. Taki soon found himself trying to attack Shishido. "Eep, sorry about that!"

Shishido scowled at the situation. "Someone better have a bright idea on how to get out of here or so help me, I will just smash all these mannequins and get out!"

Atobe and Tezuka soon found each other back to back. "Arn~, who knew it would end up like this, Tezuka?"

Tezuka didn't say anything while he took out another mannequin. For once, he was grateful that sometimes his grandfather did surprise attacks when he came home. "Ah."

Hiyoshi was doing pretty well after he managed to snip off the strings that had wound around his right leg. "Gekokujou."

Atobe saw Kabaji getting strings all over his body. "Kabaji, snap those strings." With a firm command, Atobe snapped his fingers.

Without much effort, Kabaji used his behemoth like strength to snap the strings with much ease only to create small cuts against his arms. "Usu." He completely ignored the fact that he was bleeding and busted a few more with a deadly haymaker Atobe was certain he got on television. "Ore-sama was right to make Kabaji watch wrestling shows. He's been taking out quite a number." Atobe counted the mannequins that had fallen and noticed how much that had fell. Kabaji had taken out at least twenty mannequins.

Yoshiro's face paled when he saw Kabaji bring down another ten more. "So, you seem to be the powerhouse of this team. Well, I doubt you can snap the strings again!"

This time, the strings were much thicker. Though they were more visible, they were much thicker and stronger and much to Atobe's chagrin, Kabaji could not break them. "So, what will you do now with your behemoth man under my complete control?" Swinging his arm and making a dance pattern with his fingers, Yoshiro forced Kabaji to give Atobe a hard blow and the king of Hyotei was slammed against the wall. Coughing a little blood from the impact, Atobe knew what was going on. "Kabaji, break those strings."

No matter how much he tried, Kabaji couldn't snap them off. "Sorry, Atobe."

Now, the tables were turning in his favour. Yoshiro gleefully watched them try to resist and he saw Ohtori kicking another one only to find himself now completely immobile. "So, this is one of Ryouji's friends. I don't think the brat won't mind if I run him through a little." Pulling out the strings that controlled Reiran, he danced her towards Ohtori. "Make sure he dies, Reiran-chan."

Without hesitation, Reiran thrust the sword and hit one of Ohtori's main arteries in his left arm. "Agh!"

Shishido bolted towards his doubles partner. "Ohtori!"

However before the capped regulars had anything to say, Shishido was slammed face first into the ground by one of the mannequins. "Damn you!"

Momoshiro was also held completely immobile and the one attacking him was Echizen. "Echizen, try and break it!"

Now everyone knew that Echizen didn't have that much power when it came to bodily strength. "Gomen, senpai. I can't break it."

A blade cut past Momoshiro's left sleeve while he struggled to at least free one of his limbs so he could kick Echizen where it hurt. "Oi Mamushi, you better not die there! I'm supposed to kick your ass, remember!?"

"I know that baka peach!" Kaidoh hissed while he suddenly started attacking Inui. "sorry, Inui-senpai."

"There was a fifty percent chance you would start going under Yoshiro's control," Inui continued calculating while he continuously moved his head to dodge the incoming thrusts made by Kaidoh.

"Nyah, Oishi! Watch out!" Kikumaru warned his doubles partner while the vice captain dodged the red haired acrobatic player's thrusts.

Fuji wasn't really in a nice predicament either. "Tezuka, I know you're going to make me run laps after this."

Tezuka couldn't believe that he got caught finally and was berating himself for getting so careless. He didn't say much though but he still kept his stoic face however despite the countless wounds Fuji was forced to inflict on his best friend. However, Fuji could see the look in Tezuka's eyes and he knew that his friend was trying to plan their next get away. "Ah."

Atobe was held up upside down by his own team mate, Kabaji while Oshitari who was completely under Yoshiro's control started attacking him. "Oshitari, ore-sama's going to kill you for this!"

"I know." The kansai haired prodigy didn't like what he was doing either. "But what can I do? I can barely snap these off!"

Shishido in his case was forced to watch his partner get sliced up by a small girl. "Ohtori, snap the strings, damn it!" He barely managed to lift his head only to have him kiss the musty old floor again.

Yoshiro laughed with applause towards them. "This is much better to watch. Watching little rats scream and cry for their friends. But what makes it more amazing is that they're even trying to resist screaming so their dear little friends don't panic. So sweet but then again, it's too sweet. I'm sorry, Ohtori-kun," –turning to the silver haired boy, "Reiran has very little grace and she's barely known how to hold a sword properly. I would love to kill you quick and painlessly but then again – she's so small and clumsy, she has the tendency to miss whatever vital points you have on your body."

"Yuushi, I'm sorry!" The magenta haired acrobat now began attacking the blue haired bespectacled kansai prodigy. "I don't know what my body is doing anymore!"

A burgundy liquid now soaked Oshitari's jacket and the boy's vision began to clog. "Gakuto," The kansai prodigy no longer had the strength to make even one sentence.

Atobe then got attacked by Hiyoshi and Kabaji was getting beaten up by Taki. This was very messed up but what could they do? They were under the complete control of someone they didn't even know. Yoshiro strode towards the two captains. "I wonder, what it would be like," –Yoshiro had a maniacal smile replace his usual business like smile while he started moving his fingers, "if both of you killed your own team mates."

Tezuka felt his arm jerk while Atobe felt his whole body be thrown forward and both captains picked up the sword. Yoshiro smirked. "This is a nice edition to the chapter."

Closing his eyes, Tezuka couldn't bear to watch himself attack his own teammates and much to his horror, the first one he had to attack was Echizen. "Great, something I don't need." The bespectacled captain continued to rack his brain for a way out but he couldn't find it. Why couldn't he fight his way out? Why did he feel so helpless? This was definitely not an illusion. He was able to assess that when he saw deep gashes and grazes on his arms and legs and even across his torso. His arm moves aimlessly while it cut and slashed Echizen in so many places that the blood was already speckling itself on the captain's face. "There has to be a way out."

Atobe wasn't sure whether or not he should be having fun because Yoshiro had chosen to attack Oshitari first of all people. Sure Atobe wanted him to suffer after agitating him all this time but that didn't reach this kind of extremity. Oshitari may have been a pain in the ass sometimes heck, he never thought one of his murdering Oshitari fantasies would come true. "Ore-sama never knew that he would be giving you pay back, Oshitari."

The kansai haired prodigy spat out blood. "Whatever, Atobe. Just run me like a barbecue already."

"Since when we're you so desperate to die?" Atobe raised an eyebrow while he felt his body stumble back.

Oshitari's glasses glinted while he sneered towards the captain. "Since I know how to escape and snap those strings." Somehow, Oshitari had wiggled them loose but it took him quite awhile and finally, he gave Atobe a sucker kick under his jaw and sent the teen stumbling back. "Oshitari, you asshole. That hurt!" Atobe groaned while rubbing his jaw.

Now seeing that he had the upper hand, Oshitari managed to kick the fencing blade into the air in order for him to catch it. "Now, we can get out." Swinging the sword as much as his wrist would allow, his left wrist came free followed by Gakuto's right side and because the magenta haired acrobat was the only one who was completely free, he had to set the others free even though he detested helping Kikumaru. He freed Oshitari first and then with the kansai prodigy out he managed to get Atobe out of his binds too and also Tezuka. "There we go. No more strings means we're no longer puppets."

Echizen swung himself down while tilting his cap. "Mada mada dane, kugutsu-shiri."

Paling in horror, Yoshiro made a desperate attempt to control them again only to hear something snapping off. Shishido had a fencing blade in his hand while shattered mannequins lay at his feet. "Well, not so strong without your dolls now are you?"

"Really, I'm not that weak. You boys should know not to underestimate your opponents." Flicking on a switch, Yoshiro played horrible screaming music and chanting music in the background. This forced however the regulars to the floor and all of them were completely motionless. Kikumaru tried to block it out. "Nyah, this is worse than a cat scratching the blackboard nyah!"

Oishi covered his ears in vain. "I feel like my eardrums will pop soon!"

Gakuto saw Oshitari slumping to the floor due to blood loss. "Yuushi, get up! Don't slump on me now!"

Hiyoshi was also hitting the ground and then Ohtori and Shishido were hitting the floor much after. Atobe's pride wouldn't let him. No matter how noisy or how ear piercing the scream was, Atobe fought the urge to faint. "Everything has a weakness. Ore-sama just needs time to see it!"

Echizen however was a lot faster than Atobe. "Momo-senpai, do you think you can get that notebook?"

Momoshiro leaned closer. "What?" The noise was too loud even for him to hear.

The capped freshman of Seigaku crawled past Momoshiro despite the sound exploding itself in his ears. He grabbed one of the fallen mannequin's arms and threw it as hard as he could. It smashed into one of the vases which contained the speakers. The sound was shattering to the point it started breaking Echizen's ears. Plugging his ears once more when the sound began erupting even louder now, Echizen slowly fainted due to the loud noise. "Echizen," Momoshiro was the first to notice that Echizen had slumped.

Fuji struggled getting up but the noise was so disrupting that it irritated him and drained him. "There has to be something that can stop the noise. But my sight's getting so blurry to the point I can't even tell how many fingers I have on my hand."

Tezuka was certain that his glasses would have shattered but he didn't stay awake long enough to know. He fainted soon after followed by Shishido, Ohtori and finally, Atobe whose willpower was the only thing that kept his eyes peeled open. Stopping the music, Yoshiro walked towards them with a smirk. "Interesting little fellows, I've never seen middle schoolers with such determination. I remember all the policemen that came in here died out of fright or even quit their jobs. Although," –looking at the two captains, "these two are very interesting and this little brat," –referring to Echizen, "looks like someone very familiar. I just don't remember who. Tai, pick these up for me!"

Then, there was nobody who answered him but utter silence. Yoshiro laughed inwardly at himself. "Ah yes, that useless lug is dead."

Grabbing the two captains by the collars of their jackets, Yoshiro threw them into another room. "As long as they're separated then, they won't be able to figure out the mystery. After all – these two are the ones who give the morale to others and this brat is just a bonus. Maybe I'll take the other one too because these two might prove to be quite valuable. I'll just leave the others here. They're of no importance to me."

While he was dragging them away, he wasn't really aware that there was a pair of red eyes watching him.

A few moments later, the other regulars woke up after the ear shattering noise had ended. "Is everyone alright?" Oishi was the first to ask.

Kikumaru rubbed his head. "Nyah, I'm so dizzy."

Momoshiro shook the haze off when he discovered that two of the aces of both teams were gone and so were their captains. "Okay, why are Tezuka-buchou and Echizen missing?"

Shishido slung Oshitari over his shoulder. "That Yoshiro guy isn't here either and neither are Atobe and Hiyoshi. Boy, we're screwed."

Ohtori managed to get up too. "I think we should look for them. I mean – Orishoy-san must have taken them or he might even kill them!"

Gakuto began slapping the kansai prodigy. "Yuushi, come on! Wake up!"

Shaking himself out of the haze, the blue haired kansai prodigy resisted the urge to hit the person nearest to him. "Gakuto, you're voice is so loud."

The magenta haired acrobat whooped with joy. "Yuushi, you're alive!"

"Of course I'm alive," Oshitari managed to get off Shishido who was slouching a bit. "If I were dead, who would tease Atobe to no end?"

Fuji dusted himself while he helped the others up. "Our priority right now is to go find them. Question is – where do we start?"

Momoshiro pointed at the blood trail on the floor. "Think this will do?"

The honey haired tensai let a cerulean gleam peek out from under his lashes. "Yeah, this will do."

-That's Chapter 18! Please review! Reviews give me inspiration!


	19. Judgement Day

(I don't own Prince of Tennis!)

Chapter 19 – Judgement Day

"Where am I?"

Echizen woke with a start when he found the room all trashed and messed up. The place was cold and clammy and he didn't even know where to start. He then found himself bound on the wall with heavy chains and beside him were Hiyoshi and Atobe. His buchou was nowhere to be seen and he was getting kind of worried. "Buchou, where are you?" His voice echoed in the dark.

"Echizen, can you see where we are?" The capped freshman of Seigaku sighed in relief when he heard his captain's voice which meant one thing, they weren't dead yet. "No. Place is too dark. Tezuka-buchou, are you tied up also?"

He heard clattering of chains in the dark. "I guess so. Have Atobe and Hiyoshi woken up yet?"

Echizen attempted to kick them with a chuckle. "Nope, they're sleeping like a log."

Tezuka began looking around and trying to find a light switch. "I can't feel any light switch. Can you find one?"

The capped regular smirked while trying to toss Atobe around. "Yeah, I think Monkey King is sitting on it."

"Echizen," Tezuka really didn't want to deal with Echizen's cockiness right now. He just wanted to get out of the place and solve the mystery as soon as they can. "Just look for the light switch."

Tezuka and Echizen were fumbling around for a moment to find a light switch but they never found it because they were bound and their space was kind of limited. "Ow, ore-sama demands someone tell him who kicked him right now."

"Who cares, Monkey King?" Echizen shot back with a smirk.

Atobe was ready to get into a yelling match with Echizen until he realized that his arms were bound and his limbs felt like lead. "Funny, ore-sama remembered not being chained to a wall."

"Same here." Echizen furiously kicked the shackles that were binding his ankles. "I didn't even know who dragged us here."

Then, they heard the door unbolt. "Ah, so you brats decided to make some noise."

The lights flashed open which shone directly in their eyes like a bright spot light and they saw engravings on the floor. Blood coated it and Tezuka noticed it was dry. "This is where you killed your victims."

"Yes," licking a shimmering knife in his hand, Yoshiro showed the knife that the regulars had seen in the bathroom before. "This is the knife that you saw in the bathroom in that basement room and I will kill you four because you four figured it out. You boys were just too nosy."

Hiyoshi recently managed to shake off the heavy hang over. "Che, as if that's going to stop us. The others figured it out too, you know."

"Oh I know that," Yoshiro continued pacing around while feeling the serrated edge of the knife, "it's just, what happens when they lose their pillar of supports?"

The whole room became silent because the man did have a point. "Besides, I don't think they'll be able to find you. They don't know how this house works. Lutana you say controls all the doors? It's quite true. But, I've always stayed in one place of the house so I never got lost. No one has ever discovered me except you brats. So," –pointing his blade at Hiyoshi, Yoshiro was determined to end their lives painfully. "You're going to die first, mushroom head. I'm still wondering how I should kill you though. Should I dice you up or should I burn you alive? Or should I," –taking a look at the blade with a mocking smile, he pressed it against the boy's neck, "Make you swallow this knife?"

Hiyoshi desperately hid his fear. "You can't make me swallow that and as if I'll ever open my mouth."

Atobe cringed at the thought of Hyotei's ace player swallowing a knife but what could he do? He himself was completely bound and he was helpless in this entire situation. "You could at least tell ore-sama why you slaughtered this entire family like a group of pigs. After all – we are going to die right? You might as well let the truth die with us."

They all stared at Atobe stupidly until Tezuka saw what Atobe was getting at. It was a gamble but it was worth it. "Why did you kill them?"

"Yukihisa was the middle child in our family," Yoshiro spoke sullenly, "he always got everything though but then again, he was a sweet brother. He took care of us and we always had time together but then, when father made him work," –his fists balled until they were visibly white, "he changed. He was never the brother I knew again. He started staying away from me. He grew rich, powerful and I have to admit, he was very intelligent and not only that he was – scrumptious."

Echizen shuddered at the mere thought. "You…fell in love with him?"

0000000000000000000000000000000000000

Fuji and the others were following a trail of blood that was leading somewhere. Then, for some strange reason, they heard a phone ringing. "That's strange," Momoshiro began shuffling through his pocket. "The last time we checked, our cellphones had no signal and mine's basically dead. So, whose phone is that?"

Oshitari checked his phone. "It isn't mine."

Shishido checked his also. "Nada. Ohtori, is yours ringing?"

The silver haired kohai began shuffling through his pocket. "Nope, there's nothing."

It was then Fuji decided to check his cellphone and found out that his was the one that was ringing. The screen stared at him accusingly: TWENTY MISSED CALLS. "Hello?"

"Syuusuke, I've been trying to call you! Why won't you pick up your phone!? Where are you?" The voice of his frantic sister screamed on the phone.

Fuji didn't know exactly how to explain to his sister what was going on. "Nee-san, I'm trapped in this house. I can't get out and I need you to call the police."

"Yeah, I already did! You've been missing for weeks, Syuusuke! Even Yuuta's worried sick about you!" She shrieked loud enough to scare the regulars nearby Fuji. "Where exactly are you?"

Fuji looked at his friends until Inui handed him a notebook. "I'm at Number Nine Marigold Drive, Corner of Sakura street and Ume Avenue, Tokyo City."

The other line went silent for a moment. "Syuu…suke… isn't… th…at…the…house…th…at…bu...rn…?"

"Nee-san, your voice is breaking up." Fuji couldn't hear his sister at the other end anymore.

"_Your nee-san can't reach you, boy!" _ A loud voice howled in the air and they found a very badly injured Tai. He was crawling on the floor while his organs were spilling all over the place.

Kaidoh shrank back in horror. "Is he the one who created the trail?"

"I hope not!" The magenta haired acrobat began clinging on to the blue haired kansai prodigy.

Kawamura began taking a few steps back. "Fujiko, we should go, now!"

Oishi sprinted off almost immediately. "Everyone, make a run for it!"

"_Get back here over here, brats!" _ The huge man struggled to keep up with the running Regulars.

Shishido looked back. "We have to find Atobe and Hiyoshi, now! I don't want to be on this guy's menu for breakfast, lunch or dinner!"

Ohtori found footsteps marking themselves on the floor. "Shishido-senpai, look on the floor!"

The regulars were stunned to hear a soft moan in the background while there was heavy thumping. However, the thing that distracted them was the fact that Tai was going to kill them and they had no time to act scared. "Nyah, I want to go home after this! I promise I'll never be naughty again!"

Inui began scribbling madly. "This has changed the regulars' views of watching a horror movie, ii data."

Taki was running with Kabaji. "Man, I really wish Atobe were here right now. He'd know what to do. I mean – he has a bunch of cellphones that work."

Kabaji couldn't help but agree more. "Usu, Atobe-san always had cellphones."

Gakuto dodged a flying vase that broke when it crashed against the wall. "Waah, this man's hell bent in getting us for dinner! What do we do, Yuushi!?"

The kansai prodigy began looking around but then again, there was nothing. The air became more damp and thick and he was already having a hard time breathing because of all his wounds. "Do I smell smoke? Is there something burning in here?"

Oishi noticed the paintings stretching out for them. "I think it's the oil paint from the paintings that you smell."

The curly haired narcoleptic volleyist looked at the ground. "Guys, why is the ground turning all oily?"

They heard the ground crack and many bodies began flying out of the crevices screaming. _"JUDGEMENT DAY HAS COME!"_

What was going on? This thought was the only thing that was reoccurring in the heads of both the Hyotei regulars and the Seigaku regulars. Fire spouted from the ground and more screams and groans could be heard and the bodies started flying towards one direction. They halted to watch and never realized that Tai was slowly gaining behind them. Fuji suddenly felt himself hit the ground while being crushed in the arms of the man. _"You're such a beautiful boy. I wonder how you became such a creature. I hope you don't mind if I ravage you for a few moments."_

For the very first time in the honey haired tensai's life, he had never felt so afraid. The man's eyes were full of lust and Fuji found his body completely wedged into the man's hands and unable to get out. Fuji kicked furiously and no matter what he did, all his kicking seemed to not even affect him. _"I wonder what your screams will be like. I wonder how you will scream while savour your body and kiss you senseless. I loved Yoshiro but he never once returned my affections! It always had to be Yukihisa! It was always about him and then, he got a wife but still, no! Yoshiro always went for Yukihisa-nii-san!" _His tone was bitter while he continued crushing Fuji like a toothpick.

The regulars of Hyotei didn't know whether or not they should be disgusted but the Seigaku regulars had other things to worry about. "Fuji!"

"Go get Tezuka and Echizen," Fuji disregarded his own safety for the sake of the team. "I'm the only thing that's keeping him occupied! You guys go save them! I can figure a way out!"

"But Fujiko-chan…!" Kikumaru tried to save his Dream Pair partner.

"Go!" Fuji's tone was firm.

The regulars began taking a few steps back while Fuji could hear Kikumaru quietly mumbling. "I'm sorry, Fujiko."

Oishi looked down too. "Fuji, we'll come back for you! We promise!" He was determined now to save Seigaku's two stars. After all, they wouldn't be Seigaku without them now would they?

Fuji gave them his usual smile while he watched them fade away into the darkness. Turning towards Tai, Fuji revealed his blue eyes. "It looks like you and I are alone for the mean time. So, what exactly are you going to do? Ravage me? Go ahead, not like I'm going to be the one scarred." Fuji's sadistic aura started growing again.

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"We were twenty three in the family. Then again, none of them gave a crap about me. Yukihisa was all I had," Yoshiro continued pacing around. "They took everything away from me. My life, my riches and my achievements but only Yukihisa gave me recognition. He was mine! He gave me his body! I entered him before! Then, he became a whore and shared his body with those useless women! It was no fair! I loved him more than they ever would! They only wanted his money and power! I wanted his heart and soul! So you know what I did? The day that witch came," –they all knew that he was referring to Sagaraki Hina, "I knew she was bad news but because Yukihisa showered her with so much treasures, I stayed away from her. So, in order to make him jealous, I forced Sayami to marry me! I even gave her a kid! I hated that boy! His hair was green with his reddish eyes! It pissed me off! He was such a beautiful creature while I had nothing but ugliness to make me unique!"

Echizen froze at the description. This insane man was Ryoga's real father? Echizen now felt sorry for his older brother and he actually began to believe that he was better off becoming like his current dad no matter how perverted his oyaji could be. Deep down, he was actually happy that Nanjiroh chose to adopt him when he heard that Yoshiro was his real dad. "You're disgusting. You're even worse than the devil himself. You got no brains, kugutsu-shiri."

With his eyes gleaming angrily, Yoshiro marched towards Echizen and pressed the blade against the boy's neck. "Look at you, your skin is so creamy. You even have that rat's face except you have amber gold eyes like that damn cat of Sayami! Your blood," –licking it, Yoshiro felt the younger boy's body shiver, "tastes so delicious. I want to ravage you while I kill you. I want to hear your moans and hisses of pleasure and agony! Don't you think it would make such nice music?"

Atobe winced at what the man was doing to Echizen. "You've taken leave of your senses."

Tezuka didn't show any reaction but he was burning inside. After all, Echizen was like a brother to him and in the Seigaku family, he was their youngest brother. Tezuka's glare was good enough to kill someone if it had that power but Yoshiro seemed unaffected by it. "As for you, dear Tezuka-buchou," –he wagged his finger tauntingly, "you shouldn't be so jealous. I'm saving you for last. Your body must be rippling with muscles. Such hard and firm muscles that I'd love to lick ice cream off."

Hiyoshi swore that he would never look at ice cream the same way again. "That's disgusting. With the way you're doing things – I don't think we even want to eat."

Yoshiro craned his head to look at the disgusted Hiyoshi. "You're just a bonus. These three are a much bigger prize. Look at those icy blue eyes," –he advanced towards Atobe while running his finger gingerly under the king's chin, "they scream arrogance and strong will in them. His body is just so masculine," –he began running his hand on Atobe's well toned body, "the way he calls himself "ore-sama", it's simply captivating. You did have an uncle though, such a man but you are simply more delightful and because he didn't bring you, I made sure he paid dearly for it."

Atobe snapped his head away with disgust. "You disgust ore-sama more than anything he's ever gone through."

Yoshiro let out a girlish squeal. "See? Look how beautiful he looks while he's disgusted! Listen to the tone of his voice! Don't you just want to make him scream? Now as I was saying, after she gave him a daughter, I decided to rid her for once and for all. Dressing up as her husband, I offered her a glass of wine which contained Botulinum and do you know what that does?"

The boys were scared to know but then again, they wanted the information so, there. "It's a poison so powerful that when it is contracted, the nervous system completely shuts down and you die in excruciating pain. She was coughing and dying while she was there gasping for air, I began to ravage her. I tore her clothes off and began savouring every part of her skin. It was so creamy and I knew that my half brother's tongue had touched it so, I intoxicated her! I entered her body and killed her right there! Using gloves, I wiped Yukihisa's finger prints on the knife so they would believe he killed her. That way, he would have no other choice but to run to me for help so I can comfort him and soothe him. I wanted it to be like old times again."

Tezuka watched the man's movements. Half his mind was concentrated on wiggling his way out and another half was trying to decipher the story and trying to find a way for them to get out. "Then," –the man stomped right in front of Tezuka giving him a hard kick on the bespectacled captain's left shoulder, "some inspector named Tezuka Kuniharu was solving the mystery. That stubborn old mule, he wouldn't stop questioning me so, one time, as if things never happened, I had invited him here and that's when I committed my crimes! The Vermillion Banquet happened right under the old man's nose! He did mention having a grandson," –bending down to lick Tezuka's face which greatly disgusted the captain, "but I never knew that he would be this beautiful."

Atobe twitched at the man's description and manner towards Tezuka. "If you find him so beautiful then, why hurt him?"

"He's the foul image of his grandfather," –pressing the cold blade against Tezuka's cheek, "when I ravage him, I will make sure I will remove that foul image and stain. He will be mine. All mine and the bonus is – he looks like Yukihisa when he's thinking hard. It makes him look so adorable, don't you think?"

Tezuka may have been emotionless on the outside but if he weren't taught complete and utter discipline, he would have ripped the man's throat out by now and maybe would have pierced his heart over and over again with an ice pick until the blood splattered on his face. Trying to scare the boy, Yoshiro pointed the knife point directly at Tezuka. However, he got no reaction from the stoic buchou and laughed while seductively winking at the boy. "You have such beautiful eyes. Full of seriousness and enigma, I like that."

Echizen spat out in total disgust. "You're worse than my oyaji."

His eyes flared in envy while he gripped Echizen's face. "You on the other hand, have such an enchanting pair of golden amber eyes. You have creamy skin that makes me want to suck you dry or make you moan in pain. It makes me want to sink my teeth into you and mark you as mine." He licked the younger boy's face which caused Echizen to retract in total disgust.

Hiyoshi was somewhat glad that he wasn't being involved in the man's gay erotic fantasies but he found it excruciatingly annoying when he couldn't even wiggle one hand out of the cuff. "This is taking forever. Come on, come off already!"

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Fuji on the other hand was being brought to a room. However, Fuji wasn't called a tensai without reason. He already began formulating a plan. "Hey, how long have you been dead?"

Tai snorted while swinging Fuji around. _"It's none of your business, boy."_

The honey haired tensai somehow needed time. He needed something that would stop him dead in his tracks but nothing seemed to be working. "Saa~, why won't you tell me? I'm about to die in the most undignified manner anyway. So, I don't see the reason why you should hide something from me."

There was one thing Fuji knew and it was the fact that Tai had very hot temper. _"Will you shut up already? You should be lucky that you're damn handsome otherwise I would have bashed your head on the wall and made you into a paint brush! So, shut up, boy!"_

Fuji was actually having fun playing a mental war with this man. "You're quite close to the truth. So, why don't you tell me what it's like when you're dead? Do you get to eat people? Do you get to phase through people?" The honey haired tensai threw questions back and forth towards in order to bide his time.

Though this was one part he didn't exactly expect, Tai was now ready to bash his head on the wall and Fuji knew that he was on the losing end at this point. "Better find a way how to get out before I get my guts spilled out. Saa~, I didn't know he'd snap this fast."

Tai was about to slam him until he heard something crash into Tai's head. It sounded like metal and he heard it drop on the floor and he saw Kawamura panting. "You okay, Fuji-san?"

Fuji was never more grateful in his life to see Seigaku's strongest player saving his life. "Thanks, Taka-san. We have to find the others. Do you know where they went?"

Kawamura grabbed Fuji. "Follow me!"

Before they could leave, something latched onto Fuji's leg and began crushing it. _"You're not going anywhere, boy!"_

The honey haired tensai tried to get his leg out but the grip soon began crushing his leg and even Kawamura couldn't yank him out. "Fujiko-chan, I can't get you out!"

No matter what they did, Tai's grip seemed to be too strong for them to even yank out. _"You're not going anywhere! You're coming with me! I'll take you with me!"_

Then, later they head something crack open and found something dragging him down. Tai was forced to let go of Fuji's leg and from above, they saw many hands that were bluish green that were dragging him down. _"Go, go save your friends! Follow the path of blood! Follow the footprints!"_ Like the voices had said, footprints began to appear on the floor and it showed them the way. "Looks like this is the way to find Tezuka and the others," Fuji grabbed Kawamura and made a mad dash for life after he had whispered a small thank you to the vengeful ghosts who had dragged Tai to his death.

While the two ran, they finally bumped into Oishi and the others who were also waiting for Kawamura. "Fuji, you're okay!"

The honey haired tensai smiled. "Of course but we have to find our buchou and our dear aces, ne? After all – they are our pillars of support."

The agreement was unanimous while they followed the trail of blood heading towards the room. Before they could make a move however, they heard something crash through the windows. "Move in, men! Surround the proximity area! Move, move, move!"

This only meant one thing. "The police are here!" Gakuto cried out in joy.

"No duh," Shishido sighed, "Fuji gave them the address to the place. Our parents must be worried sick. I think I'm going to be grounded for the next few weeks."

"Do you think they'll believe what we'll tell them?" Ohtori trembled feeling a little unsure.

"I hope so," Oshitari heard foot steps climbing the stairs and saw the police.

One of them spotted all of them that were all crowded up in one area. "Hey! You kids shouldn't be here! Your parents have been worried sick over you kids! Come on, we're getting you out of here! We managed to find your things outside the house! We're going to be taking you to the station so, it's alright. You're going to be fine."

"We can't leave just yet!" Oishi wrestled his arm away from the grip of one of the police. "Some of our friends are being held by the serial killer!"

Shishido shuddered at the thought of Yoshiro. "More like serial rapist and killer."

Though completely dumbfounded, the police saw that they did see someone whom they might be looking for. "Can you show us where they are?"

Kikumaru was first to react. "It's this way, nyah!"

Following after the bouncy red head, the police were led towards the room that Tezuka and the others were supposedly in.

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"As you can see, all those people died for a purpose. I couldn't kill Kuniharu though. Stupid old man," Yoshiro threw his head up with a laugh. "The man was more stubborn than a mule. But Tezuka – I wonder how fun it would be to make you bend to my will, ne? Ku-ni-mi-tsu~."

The way he said Tezuka's first name was good enough to get anyone's skin to crawl. Tezuka of course showed no reaction but then again, he was actually shuddering deep down inside. Echizen tried to wriggle free but the binds were too tight even for his wrist to slip out of. Hiyoshi struggled furiously and the man walked towards Hiyoshi with a grin. "So, maybe I should do this to you first." Flipping the blade, Yoshiro then shoved it through Hiyoshi's right thigh but the ace didn't let out a single sound.

Gritting his teeth in pain, Hiyoshi chose not to reveal his fear and pain. "Oh, being brave now are you? I wonder what happens if I drop you from up there!"

Hiyoshi felt himself being lifted off the ground and soon, he found himself, thirty feet off the ground. Now, Hiyoshi never liked being hung up from high places all because of one thing: vertigo. "Don't look down, don't look down," he kept chanting to himself and soon, he saw his vision swirling up.

He walked towards Atobe while tracing his hand on the king's skin. "You're so beautiful that I just can't wait to have you but youngsters come first."

It didn't take a rocket genius to figure out who his next target was. Echizen soon found his shirt being ripped in half and before they knew it, his chest was completely exposed and the man threw his jacket aside unaware of what else was inside. He began licking Echizen's chest which caused the boy to cringe in horror and disgust while he madly began shaking left and right. Yoshiro loved the way Echizen struggled against him. "You won't be getting out of this place alive. I want to ravage you. I'll seal you in your body so that you'll never be able to tell the tale of the Vermillion Banquet!"

Disgusting.

That was the only word Echizen could think that could describe the gravity and the meaning of the situation right now. No matter how much he struggled, the man's tongue was slithering its way all over his body. He even began to suckle off his skin which caused Echizen to hiss in pain and disgust. "Paedophile." Echizen wanted to kick him right now but he couldn't. His legs were stuck and his knee wasn't really in its best shape. "Stop licking me, damn it!"

Though he wanted to stop Echizen from the profanities, Tezuka felt that it was wiser to shut his mouth. He would have probably said even more lethal words if the man attempted to do that to him. Echizen was closing his eyes while suffering through the worse while Atobe looked away. "Ore-sama can't believe he's actually watching this."

Tezuka on the other hand tried to get himself to stand up but his whole body was aching which was not a good thing. However, what flared his temper was soon, Yoshiro bared his teeth at Echizen's neck. "Now to label you as mine…!"

"Echizen…!" Tezuka managed to let out a hiss but it came out more painful because his injuries started returning.

Yoshiro turned away from Echizen when he heard Tezuka hiss and he went on to Atobe. "I like making strong men crack especially those who are born arrogant and those who have a strong sense of honor. They're such lovely things to break."

Atobe began moving his head left and right while trying to disjoint at least one of his fingers so that he could wriggle his wrist out. If this was going to happen, Atobe thought that this was the most undignified way to die. Get raped by a man and then get killed right after. That was such an irony in his case. Like a seductive woman, Yoshiro began kissing Atobe and the king felt horrified every minute but then again, his pride didn't allow him to show fear. He felt the man sink his teeth into his lower lip causing Atobe to struggle and kick furiously. Atobe spat out the blood that leaked from his lips. "Damn it! Don't even try to kiss ore-sama ever again! It's disgusting!"

Yoshiro laughed while he licked his lips. "You taste like fresh wine, Atobe. Your blood's very metallic. Such a bittersweet taste but now," –marching towards Tezuka, he was prepared to make the most of it, "I want to break this boy into pieces. The same way I broke the youngsters."

Savagely ripping his shirt and jacket, Tezuka was now topless and Yoshiro sat behind him. With a blade in hand, he dug it deep into the bespectacled captain's back making it even more excruciating for Tezuka. But because Tezuka had always known how to conceal his agony, he kept his stone face and Atobe was mentally slapping himself. "How can he maintain his composure at a time like this!?"

Tezuka felt warm liquid ooze out and trickle down his back while he felt the man's tongue lick it all up. "You're so delicious. I'm so glad I saved you for last."

Realizing that his elbow was still free, Tezuka attempted to hit him but he missed because this time, Yoshiro caught it and spun the bespectacled teen around. He stared at the hazel brown eyes that belonged to Tezuka with a smirk. "You're so disciplined and strong. I should be able to get more pleasure because there is no such thing as a human without any emotion."

Echizen didn't know how to react as Yoshiro began doing things that could scar him forever. He ran his fingers through Tezuka's hair and then began nipping his skin bit by bit while he continued savouring every moment like some crazy psychopath. The chains were pretty tight on Tezuka so the captain decided not to show any fear or breakage so he could keep his mind intact.

Atobe noticed the agony in the captain's eyes and knew that Tezuka was bound to break soon but he was just extending his tolerance. Soon, he found blood trickling down all over Tezuka when he saw Yoshiro biting into his skin and sucking the blood like a thirsty vampire. Yoshiro moaned with pleasure while Tezuka glared with complete disgust. Licking his lips, he soon began biting Tezuka some more. Gritting his teeth in pain, Tezuka just decided to push all the pain into the deeper part of his mind and forget that he was even awake to remember this. He slowed his breathing and when Yoshiro saw he was getting no reaction out of him, he savagely backhanded Tezuka causing him to hit the floor and knocking away his glasses. "You damn emotionless bastard, I should just kill you!"

Picking up one of the loose chains, he let it loose on Tezuka's back which was already stabbed through. Again, Tezuka didn't make a sound but Yoshiro seemed to notice something: whenever he lashed at Tezuka, he showed no emotion. When someone else was in danger, Tezuka showed a hint of concern and he then found a way how to break him to pieces. "Maybe, they should suffer for you instead!"

Lashing the chain against Echizen, Yoshiro caused the first year to howl in pain causing a total outrage in the two captains. Hiyoshi was way up there but he too was burning with rage. "May you go to hell, you son of a bitch." The Enbu apprentice muttered while he saw him lash against Echizen.

Somehow, Yoshiro heard Hiyoshi's insult. "Oh really? I think you should rethink your statement!"

Letting the rope loose, Yoshiro smirked while he let Hiyoshi drop from thirty feet high which caused the Enbu apprentice to panic almost immediately. "Hiyoshi," Atobe struggled against the chains while the second year dropped from thirty feet high.

"Everyone freeze!" They heard a voice yell and the doors burst open with the regulars and the police coming in. Yoshiro's face paled while everyone started piling in. Atobe thought that there would never be a day where he would be happy to see the face of his team mates. "Arn~, what took you so long? Ore-sama doesn't have a long line of patience, you know."

Shishido resisted the urge to kick his captain. "We know, just be thankful that we're here saving your ass!"

The Seigaku regulars released both Echizen and Tezuka while the police pursued Yoshiro but the man was smarter. He picked up one of the chains and knocked away the guns. "I will never go into that cell! Never! Yukihisa was mine and you're going to imprison me because I loved him!?"

The police chased him but he managed to knock down one and steal his gun. "Nobody move!" His hand shivered violently while he pointed it at the police.

That was no ordinary gun he was holding. The regulars and the police felt at a loss upon what to do while he pushed the point of the gun towards Hiyoshi who was still hanging on the chandelier. "No one pull anything funny! I'll blow this kid's insides all over the place if you guys don't listen to me!"

No one wanted to risk the Enbu apprentice's guts all over the place. Feeling that he had control over the entire situation, Yoshiro made a maniacal grin. "Now, I think we understand each other pretty well now. I want everyone to drop their weapons right now!"

The police were at a loss upon what to do but they did as told. Yoshiro saw the guns hit the floor while he watched the regulars tense up at the situation. "Good, now all I need to do is…"

Before he could say anything, he heard the door slam open. "Yoshiro, help me!"

The second to the last Kiritsuga heir looked at the source of the voice and found a bluish skinned Tai crawling through the door. "They're here! They're here!" He chanted while he started getting dragged. His fingers dug into the wood but then, loud howls began to echo from around the corner. Yoshiro threw his head up haughtily. "You think I don't know that? The police have been here since awhile ago, you brainless fool!"

However, that was not the thing Tai meant because the door suddenly tore off and flew towards Hiyoshi which knocked him off the chandelier efficiently. Howls and moans of pain and terror flooded the room while they latched unto Yoshiro. Bodies that were covered in black suddenly flew in. They saw some things shimmering in a bright silver colour and Fuji distinctly recognized these from one of his sister's books. "I didn't know reapers actually exist. It looks like they're here to claim vengeance for the dead."

Yoshiro saw them fly in until he was slammed against the wall. "What is this!? How dare you hold me! Unhand me, you whores!"

The spirits howled in the air while a huge gust somehow burst the window and black flames began to fill up the place. The black hooded men revealed their blood shot red eyes and began dragging him down. _"You will pay. Your crimes must be paid for… We will deliver their vengeance!"_

Yoshiro kicked and struggled furiously. "No! No! I won't be dragged down! No!"

More wails were heard while the regulars saw bodies crawling all over the floor and heading towards him. "Think we should save him?" The magenta haired acrobat looked at the kansai prodigy.

"Forget it." Shishido scowled while he looked at the disgusting sight. "This man deserves this for what he's done. Ryouji and Mitsuda weren't meant to die. He's taken so many lives and I think it's best – he pays the ultimate price for it: Going straight to hell."

Struggling to fight them off, Yoshiro began thrashing violently but soon, the bodies began sinking their fangs and teeth into his skin. They began digging into his bowels and ripping him half. Blood sprayed all over the place while his voice slowly became nothing more than just an echo and the regulars were left panting and heavily breathing. This was the end of the mystery. Yoshiro didn't need to go to jail because he was already in the best one: in hell. "I guess we can go home now." Oishi let out a sigh of relief while trying to break the silence.

When the whole affair was over, a white light shone in front of them and Mayumi stood there. _"Hello nii-san-tachi!"_

Fuji saw the little ball of light dance towards Tezuka and Echizen. "That must be Mayumi then."

Several more lights came and revealed Yuma, Sayami, Shina, Ryouji, Mitsuda and other Kiritsuga members, including Yukihisa. _"Thank you for ending the curse of this family." _Yukihisa's tone was very solemn. _"I never knew that Yoshiro had killed Hina. I'm sorry for all the troubles this has caused you and your families. But please do me one last favor – treasure every moment you have with your family. You don't know when you'll lose them or when you'll never see them again."_

Mayumi hugged Tezuka even though she was barely even half his size. _"Thank you for everything you have done, nii-san! You and your friends did so much for us!"_

Tezuka hugged the girl and everyone could've sworn that Tezuka's expression had softened. Inui madly scribbled on his notebook for data. "A child who is barely even half Tezuka's size taught him how to smile. Very interesting data indeed, not to mention also that she is a ghost and no living person has made Tezuka smile."

With their last goodbyes, the spirits were finally able to rest in peace.

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(Epilogue)

They were all brought to the police station for questioning. Inui luckily still had the evidence and handed it over to the police. The boys also handed over the photos, the new articles and Oshitari uploaded all the files he had taken from Yoshiro's computer into their data base. "You kids shouldn't be doing things like that!" The police chief scolded. "Especially you," –referring to Tezuka, "Kuniharu might have another heart attack with the way you're going! Your parents called every police station in the entire Japan!" He referred to Atobe. "They wouldn't stop calling and some crazy monk came here yelling where his brat is!"

Echizen lowered his head with a sigh while Atobe just leaned against the wall in relief. Tezuka didn't like the feeling he was experiencing in his body because of what Yoshiro did. However, that was the farthest thing in his mind when they heard several cars pull up. The doors flung open and a mob of parents came here to reclaim the eighteen regulars. Taki's parents were first to arrive and they weren't alone because they had brought Taki's eight older sisters and two older brothers. "Haginosuke, where were you!? We've been looking all over for you!"

Taki didn't know how to pacify his parents or his worrisome siblings but he knew he was getting the lighter side of things when Atobe's parents actually came back from their business trip to look for their missing son. "Keigo, didn't I tell you not to enter abandoned houses!? You nearly gave your mother and me a heart attack! You could've gotten killed by that Kiritsuga Yoshiro like your uncle and," Atobe didn't want to listen to anything any more and so he decided to basically fall asleep halfway through the sermon.

"Seishounen, Chibisuke, Ryoma-kun, where have you been!" Echizen froze at those voices. He seriously didn't want to hear them right now but somehow, it felt relieving.

Nanjiroh stood in front of him and began shaking him "Where did you go? Your stupid cats been attacking my precious magazines and rubbing itself all over the place!"

"Na, Chibisuke, play a game with me!" The older Echizen brother chimed in.

Nanako was worried and so was Rinko Echizen. "Ryoma, are you okay? Did you get hurt?" The usually worries of a mother and cousin.

Echizen wasn't sure that he should mention it but he did anyway. "Ryoga, do you know who your real dad is?"

The older Echizen brother (or rather, the last Kiritsuga family member) shrugged. "Don't know, don't care."

"Oyaji, do you know?" Echizen eyed the Samurai.

Nanjiroh shrugged. "I just found Ryoga one day and took him in. Why?"

Echizen smirked. "You know Ryoga – I'm gonna say this only once: you're better off being like oyaji."

The older Echizen brother stared at his younger brother with surprise. "Really? Aww, you're so sweet Chibisuke!"

The Seigaku regulars laughed at the sight of Ryoga and Echizen getting along again. That was when Echizen decided to tell him. "Your real name is Kiritsuga Ryoga, you baka. I saw the family tree."

Ryoga's laughing stopped. "What? Are you sure you didn't get hit on the head or something?"

"Actually, it's true." One of the police officers stepped up and looked exactly like Yukihisa. "Your dad was Kiritsuga Yoshiro but due to certain circumstances, you're the last heir. You basically just inherited a lot of money, young man. Maybe say like around two million yen? You even inherited the house."

Ryoga's eyes widened but thought for a moment. "Whoohoo! I'm rich! But you know what – I'm not going to use it. The house, I'm going to let Chibisuke decide what to do with it."

The regulars turned to Echizen and they had a small group discussion and came down with one final conclusion. "Burn it." Echizen threw his arms behind his head nonchalantly.

The police were shocked except the one who looked like Yukihisa. "Alright. We'll set it ablaze soon. I mean – I'm sure it smells like crap in there."

Echizen nodded and then, more parents came in. Kikumaru's family began fussing over their youngest son and the red haired acrobat was a little clueless upon what to say. Oishi had it worse because his dad and uncle came with his mother and both males were doctors. "Syuu-chin, are you okay? Did you get hurt anywhere? Oh my goodness, you might catch something!" It took the vice captain of Seigaku quite awhile to pacify the three because all of four of them had one thing in common: they worry too much.

"Kunimitsu!" A voice that Tezuka recognized very well was heard while the regulars looked at Tezuka.

His mom came in and so did his dad and much to his surprise, his grandfather. Tezuka actually expected to get backhanded by his grandfather but in the end, he got the worst possible one: a noogie. His grandfather head locked him and gave him a noogie. "Where were you!? Your mother's been worried sick and you're off doing some crazy escapade! Trying to follow in your old man's foot steps eh? First, I hit coma and wake up just a few days ago and then find out my grandson is missing! What kind of greeting is that!?"

Tezuka decided to shut his mouth and suffer his punishment with dignity. He could see the regulars snickering at him but they immediately stopped when they saw a look on his face that said "say something or I will make you run laps until I tell you to stop" and it too took him awhile to pacify his mother. He felt like a kindergartener that had just gone to the bathroom in the mall and didn't tell anyone. Fuji also got the same when Yuuta and Yumiko began screaming at him and Fuji was just smiling there and taking it in stride. Oshitari saw his older sister come and boy did she make a scene. "Yuu~shi, where were you? Mom and dad were freaking out when you went missing for a month! I was even all set to go burn down Japan just to find you!"

Oshitari hid his face in total embarrassment while Shishido was suddenly ambushed by his dog and his family. "Ryou, I swear – were you trying to give me a heart attack?" His brother began shaking the Hyotei capped regular while the dog began licking the boy senseless in joy of seeing his master.

Gakuto also had quite the greeting. "Nii-san!" Two voices chorused while the magenta haired acrobat saw his siblings running towards him and knocking him over.

Jirou didn't have much to listen to because he just fell asleep. Kabaji had his sister to talk to and Ohtori well, just got a sermon from his parents and sister.

"You boys are crazy!" The Seigaku regulars froze at the voice. They didn't want to hear her right now.

Then came in Ryuuzaki-sensei who was twitching. "What were you boys thinking? I had to call up all your parents because you didn't come the next day!" She then began making the Seigaku regulars sermon and belittling them in every step of the way. The regulars just decided to sleep off the sermon of Ryuuzaki and their parents. Kawamura had his ear pinched by his dad constantly every time he never gave a direct answer. Echizen then noticed a man holding the book that he had with him. "Hey, can I have my book back?"

The Yukihisa look alike shook his head. "We need this for evidence. We'll give it back when we're done with it. But, I'd like to thank you also for whatever you done."

Momoshiro who was being wrestled by his siblings shrugged. "It was no big deal really."

"Don't go off taking all the credit, baka peach. " Kaidoh hissed.

"Urusei, Mamushi!" Momoshiro made eye contact with the snake boomerang user.

The regulars sighed at the two first years while the other regulars then got sermons from their parents and Hyotei had a sermon from their coach. Inui's parents came over too and when they started scolding the data man of Seigaku, Momoshiro and Kikumaru mentally reminded themselves to collect data from this so they could blackmail the evil juice maker. "We'd like to thank you for finding them," Yumiko bowed down with gratitude. "I'll make sure Syuusuke doesn't run off again by himself."

Fuji pouted like a child. "You're mean, nee-san."

"I'm glad that they're all well," he said while placing down the book, "just treasure your moments together. You never know when they might end."

Jirou yawned finally awake. "Yeah, hey, he's gone!"

When they looked back, the man had mysteriously vanished which sent shivers up the regulars spines. Fuji then took a look at Tezuka. "Saa~, I didn't know you liked ribbons, Tezuka."

The bespectacled captain after enduring a thirty minute noogie from his grandfather noticed a white ribbon tied around his wrist. He recognized immediately as Mayumi's. "She didn't need to leave a parting gift."

Echizen lowered his cap with a small smile. "I guess that's her way of saying thank you." The freshman of Seigaku revealed that he too had one and then saw that all regulars had one. "It's no deal, really." He whispered softly. "Mitsuda-san."

!THE END!

-That's the end of the series of the Burned Mystery! Please review!


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